We’ll track today’s minor moves here.
- The Pirates have outrighted infielder Dean Anna to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the International League transactions page. Since being claimed by the Bucs in early July, the 27-year-old Anna has batted just .186/.368/.302 in 57 plate appearances. Overall, he has just a .601 OPS at the Triple-A level this season, and he didn’t fare any better in the bigs with New York, posting a .518 OPS in 25 plate appearances. Anna excelled with a .331/.410/.482 batting line with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in 2013, however, indicating that there’s some upside in his bat.
- The Blue Jays have signed catcher George Kottaras and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports. The Cardinals released Kottaras last month after they acquired A.J. Pierzynski. He’s a lifetime .216/.326/.414 hitter in parts of seven seasons with the Red Sox, Brewers, Athletics, Royals, Indians and Cardinals.
- The Brewers have acquired pitcher Jay Jackson from the Pirates for cash considerations, Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel tweets. Jackson, 26, has posted a 4.89 ERA in 84 2/3 innings as a swingman with Triple-A Indianapolis, but with 9.2 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. He has also pitched in the Cubs and Marlins systems. He’s recently won praise for his stuff, with Pirates Triple-A catcher Tony Sanchez suggesting Jackson has the potential to be a good big-league reliever.
Too bad Tony Sanchez doesn’t have the stuff to be a good big-league catcher.
Hopefully he has what’s necessary to be a good 3b/1b since that’s what the Bucs really need. We’ve got Elias Diaz as catcher in waiting now.
His bat isn’t nearly good enough to be a 1B/3B.
I don’t know if you follow the Bucs or not, but they have a rather low bar for what’s “good” at the corner IF spots. And Sanchez has done enough with his bat in two seasons at AAA to merit consideration over the incumbent stiffs if he can field the position. Only thing is he’s a bit short for 1b at 5’11”. Josh Bell is two years away minimum.
I follow the Bucs everyday. Actually I probably would be okay with Tony Sanchez taking Gabby’s half of the platoon. Gabby is awful. And until the Pirates trade Pedro Alvarez, he and Josh Harrison have 3B covered. Nothing wrong with a little depth. Tony is the worst catcher I’ve seen since Ryan Doumit. But at least Doumit had a nice stick.
Really? You know that after 276.1 career defensive innings and only 142 PAs? Very Impressive. He is hitting 278/316/375 this year with 2 HRs. Sure he isn’t tearing the cover off the ball and sure it’s a small sample size even his career 258/303/386 line is a small size but you have no idea what he is capable of yet. He may not be the best at throwing out runners (23% rate in Minors career) but outside of 2012 he has not been terrible with passed balls. I would wait to reserve judgement until after 2015 by then he should have a good sample size under his belt.
Yes, I do know that. You must not have seen Tony Sanchez play. Not only can he not throw runners out, but he air-mails most of his throws into the outfield. And he cannot manage a pitching staff. He hasn’t developed well at all. He might have a future as backup, but not a very good one.
he will be the pitcher that comes in relief to beat the pirates 2 out of three games
You just know that’s going to happen. Probably turns into Bryan Morris.
Hopefully this is the move that will finally put the Jays over the top
Well if Josh Thole goes down, Kottaras can catch a knuckleball with the best of ’em.
So let me get this straight, the Pirates have the worst bullpen in the league yet we can afford to just give away relievers to our enemies? First they ditch Bryan Morris for some magic beans, now they give this guy up? Even if he’s mediocre, I wouldn’t give the Brewers (of all teams) a used fungo bat, let alone somebody who could help them. Sometimes I really wonder what the Bucs are doing…
I don’t know why they gave him away honestly I think it was dumb but I don’t think he will play well in Milwaukee. He has a career H/9 of 9.1 and in AAA it’s 10.0. And that’s not a small sample size that’s over 500 innings.At AAA he is also a career 7.2 K/9, but that being said I like his 3.3 BB/9 in AAA.
If Jackson pitches for the Brewers, it helps the Pirates.
First of all, Sanchez said Jackson has “the potential” to be a good reliever. Second, Sanchez is the one who said it. Jackson was the 10th or 11th pitcher on the AAA pitching staff, and he’s 26.