The Pirates announced that they’ve acquired right-hander Brady Dragmire from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash. In order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, lefty Phil Coke has been designated for assignment. Toronto designated Dragmire for assignment last week to add to its roster in the wake of Joaquin Benoit’s injury.
The 23-year-old Dragmire logged a 4.38 ERA with 5.1 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in 72 innings at Double-A New Hampshire this season. While those numbers don’t exactly stand out, the Bucs have a history of targeting ground-ball pitchers, and Dragmire excelled in that aspect, recording a stellar 63.6 percent ground-ball rate in the minors this year. That factor, as well as his relative youth, likely made him an appealing target for Pittsburgh.
As for Coke, the veteran 34-year-old found himself in Pittsburgh following a late September trade. Pittsburgh sent cash to the Yankees in exchange for Coke, who tossed four innings scoreless innings for the Pirates. Coke could’ve been a free agent at season’s end anyhow, so the DFA is largely a formality.
Dragmire is a decent depth claim, but I get the feeling that he’s going to be a roster casualty again soon enough. He’s not really that appealing of a pitcher, in my opinion. He spent 3 seasons in rookie ball (the first, he only made one appearance) and only made it to AA for the first time this season, despite the fact that his peripherals in A ball were solid. Due to the fact that he struggled so immensely in his first crack at the high minor leagues, it leads me to question whether he’s able to handle it. Not only did his bottom line numbers take a hit, but his FIP was 5.36 compared to a 4.38 ERA, his strikeout numbers plummeted to 5.13/9 and his walks rose to 3.5/9.
Dragmire has one more season of team control left if outrighted, if I’m not mistaken, so he’s a solid depth move. He could always figure out the high minor leagues and could make for a nice bullpen piece, however I think he is outrighted off of the 40-man roster by Pittsburgh first, and I believe he will go unclaimed, as I can’t see teams being eager to give a 40-man roster spot to a career minor league reliever who has one season of upper minor league experience and didn’t excel.. Quite frankly, I’m surprised Toronto couldn’t slip him through.
Not to worry…. The Halos would love to pickup Phil..
I thought since he is a minor league player he didn’t need to be put on the 40man roster unless he w… oh.. he was on the 40man with the Jays apparently so he would go from one to the other…. i think i see now. leaving this here just in case anyone else had the same thought. but please correct me if i’m wrong.