Report: Pirates shopping Locke, Niese to make room for Glasnow

Tyler Glasnow only has one major-league start under his belt, but the Pittsburgh Pirates appear to be trying hard to increase that total.

The team is reportedly shopping left-handed starters Jon Niese and Jeff Locke in order to open a rotation spot for Glasnow, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune.

It's unclear what teams may have interest in either of the southpaws.

Like most of the Pirates' rotation not named Gerrit Cole, both southpaws have struggled this season. Locke is having a career-worst year, owning a 5.26 ERA and averaging a team-low 4.7 strikeouts per nine innings, while Niese hasn't been close to what the Pirates thought they were getting for Neil Walker, owning a 5.13 ERA and 1.574 WHIP; he also may have suffered a knee injury in the beginning of July.

Both pitchers would bring aspects of value to teams that acquire them. Locke, a former All-Star, is controllable through arbitration for another two years, while Niese's expensive options in 2017 and 2018 can be bought out for $500,000.

Though he declined to comment on specific rumors and specific players, general manager Neal Huntington did acknowledge his cadre of young pitchers like Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Steven Brault, and Chad Kuhl may make it easier to move other arms this month.

"I wouldn't always believe what you read," he told 93.7 The Fan's morning show on Friday. "There's no question we'd like to add pitching, there's no question because of the emergence of our young pitchers we'd be interested in potentially moving some pitching as well."

Glasnow, the team's No. 8 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is currently listed as the scheduled starter for Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday. He allowed four runs while striking out five over 5 1/3 innings in his big-league debut on July 7.

Pirates starters have struggled mightily this season, owning a collective 4.83 ERA and a .277 opponents' batting average that ranks 25th in the league.