A Flurry of Minor Moves: What You May Have Missed
The first weekend of the 2020 - 2021 off-season has come and gone and, as expected, the Pirates have been a very active bunch. The big moves of the weekend came when the club declined Chris Archer's club option, the claiming of Michael Perez, and the DFA'ing Nick Burdi, more on that to come later in the week. However, there was a flurry of smaller moves made throughout the weekend that you might have missed out on. With 11 players on the Pirates injured list, room needed to be made to bring some of those injured guys back, and some people had to end up being designated for assignment.
On Friday, the Pirates 40-man roster was full with all the injured players. Now, there are five opened spots and room for the Pirates to add to their team for the 2021 season. Some were surprises and others were expected, but most of the outrighted players cleared waivers and are headed to the Pirates Minor League system. We will catch you up on all of the 40-man roster moves and tell you who's still here and who won't be a Pirate in 2021. The off-season is still young and there are lots of moves yet to be made. We will start to see how the 2021 Pirates will shape up and what Ben Cherrington's plans for the Pirate's future are.
Players Who Are Still Here
RHP Nick Tropeano
Probably the most notable of the dfa'd players who are not in a Pirates uniform anymore is Nick Tropeano. Tropeano was claimed off waivers from the New York Yankees during the season, and quickly became a member of the Pirates bullpen. While not much was expected of Tropeano, he took the opportunity and ran with it going 1-0 with a staggering 1.15 ERA in seven appearances. The key to his success, was his pinpoint control as he walked just four of the 66 batters he faced last season for a six percent walk rate. He had his strikeout pitch going setting down 19 batters while allowing an opponent batting average of just .233 on his 15.2 innings of work.
Tropeano was so good that it was a surprise that the Pirates designated him for assignment. It looked like he was going to be a fixture in the long-relief game for the Pirates. However, with so many different options available for the fifth starter's role/ long-relief spots, Tropeano must not have fit into the Pirates plans long-term and they wanted to give him a chance somewhere else. Instead, Tropeano was claimed odd waivers by the New York Mets and will get the opportunity to compete for a spot in their bullpen. Pittsburgh gave him a brand-new start and a chance to get back on track in his young career.
RHP Brandon Waddell
After seven long years in the Pirates Minor League system, the Pirates finally got a glimpse of right-handed pitcher Brandon Waddell. Over his six years in the Pirates Minor League seasons, Waddell went 30-30 with a 4.12 ERA in 478 innings of work. He made his Major League debut against the Cincinnati Reds on August 14th coming out of the bullpen. He went 1.1 innings and allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out two batters. He only made one other appearance during the season and did not allow a run in two innings of work while walking two batters.
After spending so much time in the Pirates organization, it was time for a change, and the Pirates decided to DFA him. With a young controllable talent available, it was only a matter of time before someone picked him up. The Minnesota Twins were the team to pick him up and put him in the competition for a spot on the Major League club. Waddell was not a highly touted prospect in the Pirates system, and they have several pitchers already competing for spots on the roster. It gives Waddell the change of scenery he needs and makes room on the Pirates roster for injured pitchers to return to the mix.
Who is Still Here
IF/OF Kevin Kramer
At the beginning of the 2020 season, Kevin Kramer found out he would be missing 4-6 months with hip surgery. The injury helped set the Cole Tucker outfield experiment in motion and knocked Kramer out of a possible starting role. Kramer's track record in the Major Leagues has not been good in limited action. He spent parts of 2018 and 2019 in the Big Leagues and managed to hit just .152 with nine RBI in 79 at-bats. He had shown some strong plate discipline with eight walks and an on-base percentage of .222. However, he has shown some promise in the Minor Leagues where he is a career .275 hitter in five seasons. He will most certainly be in the mix for a bench spot next season, but this time as a non-roster invitee.
C: Luke Maile
During the 2019-2020 off-season, one of the first major moves made by Ben Cherrington was the signing of catcher Luke Maile. Maile was signed to be a back-up to Jacob Stallings and split time if the catcher struggled. He was all ready to go at the normal start of the 2020 season, but COVID-19 pushed back the start date to July. When the Pirates returned to Spring Training 2.0, Maile suffered a broken finger and had to miss the entire 2020 season. John Ryan Murphy stepped into the back-up role and did a decent job defensively, but struggled mightily on the offensive side of the ball. Maile's injury probably hurt his chances with the Pirates, but he cleared waivers and will most likely compete with new catcher Michael Perez for the back-up catcher's spot.
RHP: Yacksel Rios
Over the last two seasons, the Pirates saw a small dose of relief pitcher Yacksel Rios out of the bullpen. Rios appeared in 13 games for the Pirates and posted a 6.38 ERA during that timeframe and could never really get his footing at the Major League level. Rios allowed four earned runs in his four innings of work this season, with all four coming in one outing. Rios was picked up off waivers in August of 2019 by the Pirates and has had an ERA over five in both of his seasons in Pittsburgh. Rios was added for bullpen depth and, being that he has spent parts of the last four seasons in the Big Leagues, I suspect he will elect free agency and try again somewhere else.
OF: Jason Martin
During the last two seasons, the Pirates have seen Jason Martin go up and down between the Minor Leagues and the Big League club. He was the first outfielder called up in 2019, even before the emergence of Brian Reynolds, and got off to a hot start. He hit .389 through his first nine Big League games, but the stats slowly started to diminish as he got more playing time. He was sent back down to the Minor Leagues and didn't return until September but played in two more games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. 2020 saw him not afforded many opportunities as he appeared in just three games and didn't get a hit. With the Pirates featuring many young outfield prospects on the verge of the Major Leagues Martin might be running out of time to crack a Big League roster spot.
C: John Ryan Murphy
The final player outrighted off of the 40-man roster was catcher John Ryan Murphy. Murphy stepped into the back-up catcher role in 2020 after Maile suffered his broken finger and played pretty well, especially on the defensive side of the ball. On offense, he hit just .172 with two RBI in his 25 games played, but he excelled behind the plate. He had a .988 fielding percentage and did not allow a passed ball the entire season. He was also able to control the running game well throwing out 30.7% of would-be base stealers during the season. Given the fact that Murphy is a Big League veteran, I suspect that he will also head on to Free Agency and try to settle in as a back-up catcher on another Big League team.
Today marks the first full week of the off-season as we will see more and more moves made by teams around the league. The Pirates have some marketable assets and are looking to try and build around a young core of players that include Ke'Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds. We at Buccos Cove will have you covered all off-season long as we break down all the moves and begin to see how the Pirates roster will shape up for the 2021 season. Follow us on Facebook, Buccos Cove, and Twitter, @Buccos_Cove, for all the latest articles, breaking news, and other information you won't want to miss.
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