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From Mirror reports
PITTSBURGH-- It was a busy day in Pittsburgh for the Pirates and general manager Ben Cherington as his team made a playoff push in the National League.
The Pirates were involved in several moves on the day before the 6 p.m. deadline on Tuesday. The biggest move involved getting outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Marlins. De La Cruz, 27, is batting .245/.289/.417 with 19 doubles, 18 home runs and 51 RBIs with 118 strikeouts and 25 walks in 105 games this season. He has played played left field (47 starts) and has also been a designated hitter (50 starts), with eight games in right field.
De La Cruz has a career .258/.305/.419 slash line, with personal bests of 32 doubles, 19 homers and 78 RBIs in 2023. He's eligible for arbitration in 2025 and doesn't become a free agent until 2028.In exchange for De La Cruz, the Pirates sent 20-year-old right-hander Jun-Seok Shim to the Marlins. The 6-4, 215-pound Korean, ranked the Pirates' No. 17 prospect by MLB Pipeline. The Pirates also sent the Marlins Minor League infielder Garrett Forester.
The team picked up infielder-outfielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Toronto in exchange for Altoona Curve infielder Charles McAdoo.
Kiner-Falefa was hitting .292 with eight doubles, two triples and seven home runs along with 33 RBIs for the Blue Jays in 82 games. He can play multiple positions for the Pirates as he has appeared at third base (192 games), catcher (73), second base (60), center field (42), left field (37) and right field (seven).
He broke into the league with Texas in 2018 when he was named the Rangers Rookie-of-the-Year that season. He has also played for the Yankees and the Twins.
The Pirates also dealt starting pitcher Martin Perez to the San Diego Padres for a minor leaguer.
Perez was 2-5 with an ERA of 5.20 in 16 appearances for the Pirates. In return, the team received 18-year-old Ronaldys Jimenez. He has pitched six innings in rookie ball this season, giving up just a single run and having batters hit just .100 against him in limited play.
In another move, Pittsburgh got southpaw Josh Walker from the New York Mets in exchange for Minor League pitcher Nicolas Carreno. The 29-year-old walker was 2-2 with a 2.83 earned-run average at Triple-A Syracuse for the Mets. He saw limited action in 2023 for the Mets, notching 12 strikeouts in 14 relief appearances. He will report to Triple-A Indianapolis.
In a Minor League deal, the Pirates picked up outfielder Billy Cook from the Baltimore Orioles farm system in exchange for right-handed pitcher Patrick Reilly.