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A closer look at the Josh Bell return

Time will tell whether or not this was a competent trade made by the selling Pirates. In terms of timing, the deal makes sense. Bell has two years remaining of service time before he becomes a free agent. The Pirates will not be close to competing during that timeframe. And although there were preliminary talks of a possible contract extension, deep down we all knew that that was never going to happen.

So here we are. Pittsburgh’s major league roster went from terrible to even more terrible. That said, the farm system is getting stronger. Let’s take a look at what the Pirates received in the deal.