In a move that could shake up the entire league, Pittsburgh and Boston have agreed on a deadline deal: Frankie for Little Joe, straight up. From insider Apedam Schefter:
Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is set to trade gorillas with Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo.
Frankie, Pittsburgh’s 7-year-old male western lowland gorilla, will head to Boston, and in exchange, Boston will send 33-year-old Little Joe the silverback back to Pittsburgh, according to the zoo.
Insider Elliotte Treedman noted that Pittsburgh has been looking for a wily vet for a while. This is a bold, win-now move: It's not clear how much Little Joe has left in the tank, but Pittsburgh's window isn't going to stay open forever. Little Joe is also known around the league as an excellent locker-room presence, picking nits off his teammates like it's going out of style.
Frankie has been something of a disappointment since joining Pittsburgh in 2018, never quite living up to the generational silverback potential analysts predicted from him. Boston's front office must like what they see from his peripheral stats, however; there's belief a change in scenery will do him well, as will a squad where he doesn't have to be the alpha male:
Born at the Pittsburgh Zoo in 2018 to female gorilla Moka, Frankie has been described as having “good vibes — playful and chill,” and the zoo said he’s been a favorite among zookeepers.
In Boston, Frankie will join two other male gorillas of his size and age to form a bachelor group, which will mimic gorilla social groups in the wild, the Pittsburgh Zoo said.
Star-for-star trades are rare in the zoo world: You may remember Tupi the baby capybara getting sent from San Antonio to Florida for practically nothing but a pig swap. (Insider Ian Bonoboport later reported that Tupi had attitude issues and San Antonio considered the move addition by subtraction.)
But Frankie for Little Joe has the potential to change the power structure of the entire Apesociation. It's being reported as a one-for-one so far, but there may be draft chimpensation involved when it's reported to the league.
Danny Ainge was reported to be in on Little Joe, but wasn't willing to meet Boston's demands. Little Joe, in an open letter thanking Boston fans published in The Primates’ Tribune, said, "Ook, ook."
