The Pirates landed one of the most coveted relievers at the trading deadline, but the Rangers had to delay their haul’s announcement because the biggest piece was sleeping.
Pittsburgh announced it had acquired closer Keone Kela from the Rangers for two players to be named well after midnight Tuesday morning. The Rangers announced at 2:15 a.m. EST that pitching prospect Taylor Hearn was one of the unknown assets coming back in the deal.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said he didn’t want to announce the players received until the Pirates were able to reach out to Hearn first.
“I just don’t feel it’s appropriate to announce his name when he may be sleeping somewhere and find out on the internet tomorrow,” Daniels said. “It will be for one player we’ll announce and the second one will be a player we’ll name later.”
Hearn later confirmed that he was indeed sleeping when the Pirates tried to notify him that he was being traded.
The 23-year-old Hearn was ranked No. 7 in the Pirates’ top prospects list, according to MLB Pipeline. He went 3-6 with a 3.12 ERA in 19 games at Double-A Altoona. He’s considered a wild card due to his injury history but could be a starter in the big leagues.
Kela, 25, racked up 24 saves in 25 opportunities while pitching to a 3.44 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 38 games for the Rangers.
