The Pittsburgh Pirates have made their first notable trade of the 2026 season. They recently traded their Competitive Balance Round A draft pick, alongside relief prospect Jaden Woods, to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infield prospect Jacob Gonzalez and left-handed reliever Brandon Eisert. The Pirates traded one of their early-round picks (34th overall pick) just hours before the MLB draft. So how did the Pirates do overall in the trade?
Let’s Grade the Pirates’ End of Their Recent Trade with the White Sox
What The Pirates Receive
The White Sox originally selected Gonzalez 15th overall in the 2023 draft. At the time of the draft, Gonzalez was considered one of the top 20 draft prospects. However, he hasn’t developed as quickly as hoped. The infielder struggled in 2024 and 2025. However, Gonzalez seems to have figured things out this year. He has spent most of 2026 at the White Sox’s Triple-A affiliate, where he hit .319/.419/.663 with a .462 wOBA and 166 wRC+. It only took him 238 plate appearances to hit 19 home runs. He also walked at a 13.6% rate and struck out 20.6% of the time.
Most of Gonzalez’s production came at home; however, his peripherals suggest he can be a good hitter. He still had a solid 22.5% whiff rate to go with a 90 MPH exit velocity and a 12.9% barrel percentage. His xwOBA came in at .381. Among Statcast Triple-A batters with at least 200 plate appearances, Gonzalez has the fourth-best xwOBA and the 20th-best barrel rate.
Gonzalez has played in parts of 20 MLB games. His overall production at the plate comes in around league average, with a .244/.323/.360 triple-slash and 95 wRC+. Both his 8.2% BB% and 22.7% K% sit around league average. He has only played first base in MLB, but primarily played shortstop throughout the minor leagues. Plus, he has experience at third and second base. Before the trade, Baseball America ranked Gonzalez as the White Sox’ 16th best prospect.
Brandon Eisert is a lefty reliever in his second full MLB season. He has pitched 27.1 innings as a reliever/opener. On the surface, his 5.93 ERA may not seem very attractive. However, there is plenty more than meets the eye. Eisert has gotten plenty of Ks with a 27.4% K% and has only handed out a walk 6.8% of the time. He currently sits at the 88th percentile for whiff rate, at 31.2%. Eisert has struggled to limit home runs with a 1.94 HR/9 ratio. However, a 19.4% HR: FB ratio and a 7.8% barrel percentage both suggest some bad luck is involved. Eisert has a strong 3.43 xERA, 3.38 xFIP, and 3.13 SIERA.
Eisert is a soft-tossing lefty, sitting 90 MPH with his four-seam fastball. However, his 7.2-foot extension (95th percentile) makes his velocity look faster out of the hand. Eisert also throws a slider, change-up, and a sinker (which he almost exclusively throws to lefty batters). He also throws from a 34-degree arm slot. With his low-velo fastball and elite extension, he draws comparisons to a slightly higher arm-slot Evan Sisk, who is breaking out this year for the Bucs.
What The Pirates Gave Up
The Pirates are surrendering the 34th overall pick in this year’s draft. That is their Competitive Balance Round A pick. While that is the ‘headliner’ of the deal, do not sleep on Jaden Woods. Woods was the Pirates’ seventh-round pick in 2023. Like Eisert, Woods’ poor 4.84 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A does not tell the entire story. Woods has struck out over a third of opponents with a 34% K%, and only has a 10% BB% over 35.1 IP. Despite his 51.9% GB%, he has an 18.8% HR: FB ratio. He is one of just 16 minor league pitchers with a K-BB% of at least 24% and a ground-ball rate of at least 50%.
Woods primarily uses two pitches. The first pitch he uses is a mid-90s sinker with over 13 inches of arm-side run. The second offering he uses most often is a low-80s slider. Woods will occasionally throw a four-seamer and change-up; however, his sinker/slider combo makes up 91% of the pitches he has thrown at Triple-A this year. Woods also has above-average extension and delivers the ball from a lower arm slot. He is nearly MLB-ready and could have been seen as a replacement in the Pirates’ bullpen had they not traded him.
How The Pirates Did in the Trade
Competitive balance picks usually do not fetch very much as the headliner of a trade. Gonzalez was the primary target of his deal; however, Eisert is certainly interesting. It does hurt a little to lose Jaden Woods in this trade. However, for what Gonzalez looks capable of, and what Eisert’s underlying numbers look like, it certainly looks like a good trade for the Pirates.
Final Grade: B+
Main Photo Credits: Gary Cosby Jr.-Imagn Images via The Tuscaloosa News
