Ivan Nova to White Sox...

The Pirates shipped RHP Ivan Nova to the White Sox today for rookie-league pitcher RHP Yordi Rosario, 19, and $500K international slot money. That leaves a back-end rotation spot open for competition, drops the major league payroll to an estimated $70M (Nova's paycheck was in the neighborhood of $9M) and continues the Bucco restocking of the lower level pitching.

Ivan strolls into the sunset (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Yordi has had a couple of good years in the Dominican League and had a nice enough debut in the Arizona League (1-2/3.42; 31K in 26-1/3 IP) even being a year or too younger than the competition and represents another lotto ticket. He's currently projected as a back-end starter. Check back in a couple or three campaigns...

The Bucs took Ivan at the 2016 deadline when the Yankees traded the seven-year vet, in his walk season, to the Pirates for a pair of PTBNL, pitcher Stephen Tarpley and outfielder Tito Polo. The 29-year-old started off like a ball of fire, making 11 starts (three complete games) and posting a 5-2/3.06 line with just three walks in ​64 2⁄3 innings pitched. His biggest bug-a-boo, long balls, were also held to a manageable ratio, just as the Pittsburgh brass had planned when switching Ivan from bandbox Yankee Stadium to spacious PNC Park.

That led to a three-year/$26 million contract in December. In 2017, Nova won the NL's Pitcher of the Month Award for April and became the first Pirate to throw at least six innings in his first thirteen starts to begin a season since Eddie Solomon in 1981. At the All-Star break, Nova had a 3.21 ERA but ended the season with a 4.14 mark after fading in the second half; his old nemesis, the home run ball, had come back to bite him. It was a frustrating trend; he could put together long stretches of excellent hurling followed by weeks of uninspired batting practice work.

Nova started for the Pirates on Opening Day in 2018 and finished the season 9-9/4.19 in 29 starts. Same thing; too many long balls and too much streakiness. Ivan went 10-7/3.46 during a second-half run after a 2-5/4.96 start, hampered by a bad finger. But still, for a back end option - an affordable contract and 25-25/3.99 slash (35-35 in Bucco games he started) - he filled the bill.

Eventually, the next man up (photo via MLB Pipeline)

Certainly a guy to man the fourth spot is in the Bucs' budget. They may go outside the org to replace Ivan, unless they have determined that a Steven Brault/Nick Kingham/JT Brubaker-type is ready to step in. At any rate, it's a move, though somewhat surprising (we thought with Chad Kuhl out, Ivan would be a bridge to his 2020 return and go at a later date), that should make the team a little younger and dumps some salary. It also leaves a staff spot for Mitch Keller if he proves ready to make the leap in 2019.

Hot Takes On Outfield Rotation, Ivan Nova

A little more on the morning news...

Part One: It looks like an outfield rotation is how the Bucs will roll for now - Starling and Corey D both get some nap time, Gregory gets to work on his stroke, and AM will get his fair share of MLB swings.

A good problem to have and a plan in hand (photo Pgh Pirates)

We're not sure how they're going to roll the rotation out; sounds like it's an every fourth day off concept now. We're assuming it will adjust over time because of performance and injuries, and that makes it a pretty good flexibility thing seeing how the Pirates haven't had a true fourth outfielder since Matt Joyce. It also fits into two of Clint's preferences, regular playing time for all and down days for bod maintenance.

Part Two: Ivan Nova says his finger has been bothering him since late April, and mainly affects his breaking ball. He missed his bullpen session, so it seems likely that he'll miss Tuesday's start. Insurance policy Nick Kingham will go if he's DL'ed (he'll be a day shy of being eligible for recall otherwise), but if Ivan misses just one turn, it's likely to be Steven Brault, or maybe Tyler Glasnow, on the hill.

What to do with Ivan... (photo Pgh Pirates)

The date Ivan noted and his plunge into the dark side coincide. It seems like the Pirates medicos could have been a little more on top of this, unless Nova stonewalled them about the injury. Another smaller issue is that DL dates can be retroactive by 72 hours, so if he's not DL'ed until Tuesday, the team loses a couple extra days of his availability.

Ivan Nova - Bucs Betting On A Veteran Down the Stretch

Iván Manuel Nova Guance, 29, was raised in San Cristóbal, Dominican Republic. He started youth baseball as a SS/OF with no great success, tho he had a rifle arm. He was flipped to pitching as he grew (he's now 6'5", 235 lbs), and that worked out a whole lot better.

The Yankees signed Nova as a free agent in 2004 for $80K. After some time in the Bronx Bomber's Dominican Academy, he came stateside in 2006 to work in the GCL. Though still a prospect, he had a couple of rough years in the lower levels. He didn't make the 40-man roster after the 2008 season, and the Padres claimed him during the Rule 5 draft but sent him back to NY after camp. The Yanks were glad they did.

Ivan Nova (Pirate promo)

Nova posted a 6–8, 3.68 mark between AA and AAA that season. He landed a spot on the 40-man roster by pitching well in the AAA playoffs after a bumpy beginning following his promotion. Ivan was strong in the Dominican Winter League and followed it up with a hot start at Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Nova didn't make the club out of camp, but did debut with the Yankees in 2010. He yo-yoed back and forth between the show and the farm, as many pups with options are. We know all about that in Pittsburgh.

He broke camp in 2011 as a starter, but was sent back down, again as mainly an option issue (he was 8-4, 4.10 at the time) when Bartolo Colón and Phil Hughes came off the DL. He was called back in July and was all that, finishing the campaign 16-4, 3.70. The righty made Baseball America's All-Rookie Team and finished fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year Award vote. But since then, it's been a struggle.

Ivan had a strong 2013 season (9-6, 3.10) but otherwise has hovered at or above the 5.00 ERA mark. Injuries surely played a role. He had rotator cuff irritation in 2012 and TJ surgery in early 2014. This year, he was 7-6, 4.90 with New York.

Nova is primarily a fastball/cutter/curve tosser, with a show-me circle changeup he saves for lefties. His four seamer and cutter come in at about 93 MPH and his 80 MPH curve sports a 12–6 drop with a strong speed seperation. He's not a big whiff or walk guy (7 K, 2 BB per nine) but does have a tendency to give up long balls, especially this year (1.81 per game).

The Bucs are betting Ivan can help carry them through the dog days (photo Pgh Pirates)

He had less than 100 IP with NY, so he should be strong for the finish. Nova's also a 51% ground ball guy during his career, and he's at 54% this year. He 4.90 ERA is unsightly, but both his SIERA (3.98) and FIP (4.40) are better. On the other side of the pillow, he is a pure rental, hitting free agency at the end of the year. We have yet to see who the two PTBNL are, but Yankee sources say they're pretty decent prospects.

So in the case of Nova, the FO seems all-in for 2016. The Pirates deadline housecleaning involved sweeping Juan Nicasio, Frankie, Jon Niese and Jeff Locke from the rotation. They had in-house replacements on hand with Ryan Vogelsong, Jameson Taillon and Chad Kuhl. After pricing the big guns on the market, they came back to Ivan, who they were rumored to be on early, to fill the final slot, bypassing the Indy pipeline for an experienced hand.

The FO's bet is that veteran guys who have been there and done that give them better competitive odds down the stretch than a rotation staffed by young 'uns, who we're guessing will pop up by the boatload in September. The next 50 games will show if that theory holds water.