Camilo Doval's Pirates debut went exactly how Yankees fans expected after trade

The New York Yankees ridding themselves of Camilo Doval felt like an exorcism for fans. For a whole calendar year, the hard-throwing righty tantalized with potential and disappointed with results. To make matters worse, some of the prospects the Yankees shipped off to acquire him, like third baseman Parks Harber, have blossomed. Wouldn't it be nice to have a young third baseman who can hit right about now?

Enough about the past. This is about the present. And the future. And for Doval, it seems that a new zip code is the only change he's about to find. The 29-year-old took the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates for the first time on Aug. 2, and it went just about as well as you'd expect.

His first outing probably wasn't how the Pirates drew it up. They, laughably, traded for him to be a high-leverage arm, yet in the process of getting shellacked by the Cincinnati Reds, were forced to call on Doval in the eighth inning while trailing 9-2.

After getting JJ Bleday to fly out for the first out, Doval served up a meatball to potential future Yankees catcher Tyler Stephenson, and Stephenson went oppo-taco, depositing the ball over the right field wall for a home run. Doval then rebounded to strike out Nathaniel Lowe and get Dane Myers to fly out and escape the inning, but he already gave Pittsburgh a taste of what's to come.

Don't expect the Yankees to wind up regretting trading Camilo Doval to the Pirates

Look at Doval's Baseball Savant page, and you'll see a deep, dark red across the board. Normally, we'd put some stock into that, but we've seen enough of the disappointing former closer to know that he'll make just enough mistakes to prevent those peripherals from channelling themselves into anything worthwhile.

The problem with Doval isn't stuff; it's execution, and when it becomes a mental block, it can be something that's hard to overcome. Fans of a certain age will remember Chuck Knoblauch forgetting how to accurately throw the ball to first base, and this case is similar to that.

Some trade grades have this deal graded out as an even swap, but in all honesty, this is addition by subtraction for New York. The prospects they received, catcher Omar Alfonzo and outfielder Luis Cruz, are just the gravy on top.

If either of them pans out, though, it will be a massive win for the Yankees. Alfonzo has some nifty pop for a backstop, and after trading away three catching prospects, including Rafael Flores Jr. and Edgleen Perez, to the Pirates for David Bednar, the Yankees needed to add some young catching depth into the system.

As for Cruz, the 18-year-old is a lottery ticket. Most times these guys come up bust, but it should be noted that he has better numbers in the DSL than Wilberson De Pena did at this time last year, and look what he's become.

We wish Doval well. If he figures it out in Pittsburgh, we'll be happy for him. It was never going to happen here, so it was time to move on. That said, early indications are that the Pirates will get more of the same from the enigmatic righty.

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