If someone had told you that the Pirates dealt pitcher Martin Perez, a veteran they signed to a one-year, $8 million deal in the offseason, at baseball’s trade deadline, you’d probably say, “Yep, that’s our Buccos.”

But the Perez deal was an afterthought by the time Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was done wheeling and dealing at the end of Major League Baseball’s 6 p.m. trade deadline on Tuesday.

Believe it or not, the Pirates, who went into Tuesday with a 54-52 record and just two games back of the third wildcard spot in the National League, actually got better (at least on paper).

The first major move came less than an hour before the deadline when news broke that Pittsburgh had acquired outfielder Bryan De La Cruz from the Miami Marlins in exchange for two prospects. La Cruz, 27, brings legit help to the Pirates’ struggling lineup; in 424 at-bats in Miami, he batted .245 with 18 home runs, 51 RBI and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of .706. The minor leaguers Pittsburgh parted with were pitcher Jun-Seok Shim and infielder Garrett Forrester, the 17th and 18th-ranked prospects in the Pirates system.

Soon after that move was announced, it was reported that Pittsburgh also acquired utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Toronto Blue Jays; in 257 at-bats for Toronto, he batted .292 with seven home runs, 33 RBI and an OPS of .758. Kiner-Falefa has played shortstop, second base and third base during his career. He won a gold glove at third base while playing with the Rangers in 2020. With Nick Gonzales currently on the injured list, Kiner-Falefa will likely see the bulk of his action at second base, although he has to heal up first because he hasn’t played a game since the end of June thanks to a sprained knee. Fun fact: According to several outlets, Kiner-Falefa is a distant cousin of Ralph Kiner, a Pirates legend who once led the National League in home runs for seven straight seasons. In exchange for Kiner-Falefa, Pittsburgh gave up Charles McAdoo, reportedly the organization’s 29th-ranked minor league prospect.

Kiner-Falefa is currently on a two-year contract worth $15 million and is set to earn $7.5 million in 2025. As for De La Cruz, he’s making $768,000 this season and will be under arbitration control until 2028.

Back to the afterthought that was the Perez trade. Perez was sent to the Padres, which is strange since they are in a dogfight with Pittsburgh for one of the three wildcard spots. In exchange for Perez, the Pirates receive Ronaldys Jimenez, an 18-year-old pitcher from San Diego’s farm system.

The Pirates also traded pitcher Nicolas Carreno to the Mets in return for reliever Josh Walker.

Oh yeah, the Pirates actually played a game on Tuesday night; it was the second of three vs. the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Bailey Falter, who missed several starts due to injury, was back on the mound for Pittsburgh on Tuesday and pitched five-and-a-third innings while giving up two runs–including one earned–on six hits, as the Pirates won their second-straight game of the series by a score of 6-2. Outfielder Michael A. Taylor, the hero on Monday night when he smacked a three-run home run to break a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth inning, led the way again on Tuesday with a two-run blast in the top of the sixth inning.

The Pirates are now 55-52 and still two games back of San Diego for the final wildcard spot. They have won three in a row and will look to finish off the sweep at Houston on Wednesday night with the first pitch set for 8:10 p.m.