The Pirates seem to have narrowed down their trade candidates (at least publically) to a few names: Alex Rios, Nate Schierholtz, Giancarlo Stanton and Brian Wilson (Free Agent).<\/p>\n
Alex Rios (White Sox) \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune has reported<\/a> that White Sox Executive VP, Ken Williams, was spotted in Altoona a couple of days ago to scout players like Gregory Polanco, Alex Dickerson, and Nick Kingham.<\/p>\n This is a name that the Pirates have been looking at to fill the lack of power in right field. Rios has continued to build off of a solid season from last year by hitting at a .276 clip in 97 games this season. He has a .330 on base percentage and a .767 slugging percentage while hitting 12 home runs and knocking in 49. His speed would also be a welcome sight as he has stolen 21 bases in 27 attempts.<\/p>\n Nate Schierholtz (Cubs) \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n Bruce Levine of ESPN Chicago has reported<\/a> that the Pirates \u201chave been watching Schierholtz for more than a month.\u201d<\/p>\n Schierholtz is a solid left handed, power bat that could help in right field. He has boosted his numbers in the second half to an average of .280, while boasting a .864 OPS with 13 home runs and 42 RBI which could help vamp up the lower half of the batting order.<\/p>\n Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins) \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n We all know the pop that Stanton has as he\u2019s been the only major bright spot for the Marlins this season. He has made this list only due to the fact that the Pirates and the Rangers continue to ask the Marlins if they would reconsider moving their star as seen in this tweet by NY Post Columnist, Joel Sherman:<\/p>\n Hear #Rangers<\/a> #Pirates<\/a> particularly call #Marlins<\/a> often on Stanton, told no Word is ownership decision, Loria doesn’t want to move Stanton<\/p>\n