Tyler Yates Elects Free Agency

TUESDAY: Pirates GM Neal Huntington told Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the team is in dialogue with Yates in hopes of retaining him.

MONDAY: Tyler Yates elected free agency after being outrighted by the Pirates, according to a team press release. Yates had Tommy John surgery in July, and outrighting him now takes him off the 40-man roster earlier than non-tendering him in December.  Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote in July that "the Pirates' tentative plan for Yates is to offer him a minor league contract for 2010."  The press release notes that the Pirates' 40-man roster is at 38, with Evan Meek and Jose Ascanio still on the 60-day DL.

Yates, 32, tossed 73.3 innings last year with a 4.66 ERA.  At 5.0 per nine innings, walks were a problem.  The Bucs acquired Yates from the Braves in March of '08 for Todd Redmond.