Dec. 10 was shaping up to be a fairly routine offseason weekday for Spencer Horwitz, who had made plans with his girlfriend to go see "Gladiator II" in theaters.
Then, news broke of Andres Gimenez's trade from the Cleveland Guardians to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Minutes later, Horwitz, who played both first and second base over parts of two big-league seasons in 2023 and '24 with Toronto, received a phone call from Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins, indicating he also was part of the trade and heading to Cleveland.
"I heard from the Cleveland GM and (Mike Chernoff) is like, 'Hey, we're excited to have you,'" Horwitz recounted to reporters on Zoom Wednesday.
However, Horwitz went on to say that in the same phone call, Chernoff revealed another deal was prospectively in the works.
Roughly an hour later, Horwitz, 27, was traded for the second time of the day, this time to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who shipped righty Luis Ortiz and a few prospects to Cleveland in return.
As the dust settled over the last week, Horwitz took stock of the environment he'll be walking into with the Pirates.
For starters, Horwitz played collegiate summer baseball in 2018 with Jared Triolo and Alika Williams, making for two familiar faces.
He also reunites with new Pirates hitting coach Matt Hague, who spent the last five years in the Blue Jays system, including coaching at the major-league level in 2024.
"When I got traded to Pittsburgh, I was super excited because I know they've been looking for some more offense and, obviously, I get to work with Matt Hague again. He's been my hitting coach since Double-A and I work really well with him. I'm excited to hopefully continue that."
The Pirates are trusting that Horwitz can build on a 97-game rookie campaign last year with Toronto in which he slashed .265/.357/.433, hitting 12 home runs and 19 doubles with 40 RBIs.
In 2023, he made his MLB debut, appearing in 15 games with the Blue Jays while hitting .256.
Working under Hague with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 2022, Horwitz batted .297. In 2023, he advanced, with Hague, to Triple-A Buffalo, and hit .337 in 107 games.
Horwitz, 27, bats left-handed but throws right-handed.
Defensively, Horwitz looks primed to fill a large hole the Pirates have at first base, with last year's players at the position -- Connor Joe (non-tendered) and Rowdy Tellez (designated for assignment) -- now gone.
Horwitz played 41 games at first base last season for the Blue Jays, posting a .996 fielding percentage over 300 2/3 innings.
He also saw action at second, playing 288 innings over 39 games with a .982 fielding percentage.
Originally a 24th-round (No. 717 overall) draft pick by Toronto out of Radford in 2019, Horwitz carved a path to MLB in part by being willing to play where needed.
While Horwitz will remain dedicated to staying versatile, his expectation with the Pirates is to play primarily first base.
"It seems like first base is where (the Pirates) want me for now, but we also talked about other positions," he said. "We're not going to lose that completely, but right now the priority is first base."
Horwitz's ultra brief tenure with Cleveland represented the first time he'd been traded in his baseball career.
While it was doubtless a whirlwind to then be traded a second time shortly thereafter, Horwitz looks forward to the next chapter of his career that's about to begin in Pittsburgh.
"Just come in ready to compete in camp; nothing's going to be given to me," he said. "I know that, but it's nice to feel wanted and it's really exciting. I think it's going to be a good opportunity for (me and the Pirates)."