The Pittsburgh Pirates are acknowledging that they desperately need more bullpen help with the action they've taken over the last few weeks.

The front office added a reliever in their trade with the Chicago White Sox ahead of the MLB Draft, and Pittsburgh added another arm to its reliever core on Thursday afternoon as part of a trade with the San Diego Padres.

The Pirates acquired RHP Ron Marinaccio from the Padres in exchange for international signing bonus pool money.

Marinaccio owns a 3.50 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 141 games during his five-year big league career. The 31-year-old has pitched with San Diego and the New York Yankees over that stretch.

As for the 2026 season, Marinaccio has a 4.79 ERA in 33 outings, but those numbers are heavily inflated by two rough outings. The right-hander gave up four earned runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks in a third of an inning, and five earned runs to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jun 27.

As far as the advanced analytics go, Marinaccio doesn't stand out in any category. He has a whiff rate of 25.8 percent, a strikeout rate of 18.7 percent, and a walk rate of 8.9 percent

Acquiring Marinaccio primarily gives the Pirates another multi-inning relief option out of the bullpen.

Marinaccio will immediately join Pittsburgh's big-league roster, which means the Pirates made a roster move directly after the deal went down.

The Pirates have designated pitcher Dennis Santana for assignment.

A year ago, the idea of DFAing Santana would have been outrageous. He had a 2.18 ERA with 16 saves during the 2025 season and was a key piece in Pittsburgh's bullpen.

The 2026 campaign has been a far cry from where Santana was last season. He has a 6.05 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP with an average exit velocity of 89.8 mph (29th percentile); the veteran is getting hit hard and not striking players out as he did in the past.