March 1: Siegrist’s contract comes with a $1.5MM base salary if he makes the big league roster, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Siegrist can earn an additional $500K worth of incentives and has a pair of opt-out dates in the deal if he has not been added to the 25-man roster.
Feb. 24: The Pirates have inked left-hander Kevin Siegrist to a minor-league contract, the team announced today in a press release. He’s received an invitation to spring training camp as well.
Siegrist had recently pitched before a crowd of about 20 scouts in Florida, making an attempt to show teams he’s healthy and can bounce back after an injury-marred 2017 campaign with the Cardinals and Phillies. Apparently none of those teams were willing to offer Siegrist a major-league contract, but he’ll have a good chance to make a Pirates roster that features George Kontos and Michael Feliz as the top setup options behind newly-extended closer Felipe Rivero. If he does, the Bucs will have the option to control him through the 2019 season via the arbitration process.
Prior to 2017, Siegrist had enjoyed a largely successful career with the Cardinals. Across 206 1/3 frames with the club from 2013-2016, the southpaw pitched to a 2.70 ERA while racking up 243 strikeouts. He had a bit of a walk problem (4.10 BB/9), and ERA estimators suggested he outperformed his peripherals a bit (3.87 xFIP), but nonetheless he was solid for the Redbirds, racking up 72 holds and 9 saves during that span.
Things took a turn for the worst for Siegrist last year, as a forearm strain and spinal sprain forced two separate stints on the DL. When on the field, his velocity and strikeout rate were both down, while his walk rate ballooned to a problematic 5.24 per nine. His 4.98 ERA became an eyesore, and by the end of August, the Cardinals had seen enough; they activated him from the DL only to designate him for assignment immediately.
Siegrist was quickly claimed by the Phillies, for whom he pitched just five innings during the month of September. He allowed two earned runs and struck out seven. However, his showing apparently wasn’t enough to convince Philadelphia to pay him a minimal arbitration raise on his $1.6MM 2017 salary. The club opted to outright Siegrist off their 40-man roster, and he elected free agency shortly thereafter.
The towering 6′-5″ Siegrist is just 28 years old. He was drafted and developed by the Cardinals organization, who plucked him out of Palm Beach Community College in the 41st round of the 2008 draft. Though he was a starter in the lower minors, a shift to the bullpen late in his 2012 season at the Double-A level spurred a quick rise to the majors. Siegrist pitched just 7 2/3 innings with the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate before he was deemed ready to make his major-league debut on June 6th, 2013, a day on which he struck out four of the six hitters he faced while allowing no earned runs.
another project they love to work on. hopefully it works out.
Not excusing the returns of the Cutch and Cole trades but Huntington has made a few solid moves now.
As a lifelong Pirate fan, I wish other fans would get over the Cole-Cutch moves. If teams thought that they were getting the April-July 2915 Cole or the pre-2016 Cutch, don’t you think the Pirates would have been offered more from somebody. It’s past time for Pirate fans to start thinking with their baseball brains instead of their baseball hearts.
Oops. 2015 Cole
Many Pirates fans simply parrot the talking heads from the Burgh. The talking heads ripped the deals because they rip everything about the Pirates. They even tried to be negative about the Dickerson deal. For Cole, the got the third baseman with some power that the have needed since Kang killed his own career, a pitcher who is a mid rotation guy, (about the same as what Cole projects to be unless he rebounds) a good bullpen piece that was needed and a decent OF prospect, which they also needed. For Cutch, they got a second bullpen piece and another decent OF prospect. The Dickerson deal replaces Cutch’s offense so the only thing is missed is the persona and that is not worth double the cost. Most other teams would call those solid moves but not the talking heads from the Burgh and the lemmings that follow them.
I think the Dickerson deal is the best trade the Bucs have made the whole off season !
Its far more than just about Those 2.
Seems like a Tony Watson flip.
Again largely successfull player with a small regression period available for minimum wage.
Why not.
Good deal. Low risk, HUGE reward. Pitched decent after Philly picked him up last season.
Good signing
Good move. There’s a job to be won, and the Bucs know him really well from his years with the Cards.
I like that he is controllable beyond this year if he pans out.
Too often in the past the Pirates didn’t get enough out of the guys whose careers they salvaged.
Clayton Richard, in particular, got a minor league deal with an early season opt out. He worked with Searage and the staff for a few months, never pitched for the Pirates and then helped the Cubs out for the rest of the year.
I liked the Kontos waiver claim for the same reason, controlled through 2019.
As a cardinals fan you guys got a good pitcher good luck
After all the criticism this offseason the Pirates have endured, its really funny how there trying to show they wanna compete by signing a legit LF nd now a solid bullpen guy from our rivals only cuz our clubhouse finally spoke up about this organization and lack of trying to compete. Dont get me wrong i like these moves but why did we really trade Cutch?? Cuz we couldnt extend him nd would lose him to free agency for a draft pick?? I can almost guarantee the Pirates made no effort into extending Cutch. Now i understand he is on the downside of his career but he can still rake nd his clubhouse presence can not be overstated. The fact is Cutch was an icon here who was very visible in the community nd the bucs couldve signed him for a very fair price without making cuts elsewhere. But of course the bucs are cheap nd thats why we the fans dont show to games anymore. Now they try to save face nd make some moves in some sorta way to make amends with the fanbase but everyone sees right through it. Like i said i like these moves but nobody in Pittsburgh trusts this organization nor feels like theyre a part of the community. But of course that all goes away if they actually start winning soo i really hope they have a great year otherwise theyre gonna have a really bad time here and its only a matter of time before the city nd fanbase start tearing them apart.
10 years ago, the “fanbase” was saying the exact same thing about Jason Bay. “He’s the face of the franchise and a really nice guy! We should throw a ton of money at him so he can finish his career here!” The “fanbase” never learns.
Jason Bay is very different compared to Andrew McCutchen. Cutch led us to the playoffs, was drafted nd developed by the bucs, won NL MVP, even signed a team friendly deal. But youre right the fans know what to expect from the organization so we shouldnt be surprised when they didnt find a way to extend him.
I bet the Cardinals are really kicking themselves over not locking up Pujols to that 10 year deal. He won an MVP for them!
I don’t really think the fans know much of anything to be honest. These are the same fans that we’re destroyed when they traded away Nate McLouth (“He won a Gold Glove!”), and absolutely hated the AJ Burnett acquisition.
Is this supposed to be sarcasm ? The Cards are lucky they didn’t give Pujols that much money on a 10 year deal !
These moves have zilch to do with placating Harrison and Freese and everything to do with them being affordable and available.
Corey Dickerson for a guy they wanted to get rid of is a great trade. They would have made it in November if it was there. Just happened to be this week.
Siegrist was only recently ready for a showcase.
Guys like Saunders and Nava waited for better offers as long as they could (actually a day too soon for Saunders).
These deals made sense for them.
They would not have gone out and signed a Carlos Gonzalez for $5-8 million just to make J Hay happy. Nor should they.
Harrison nd Freese absolutely had a ton to do with these moves. Their comments were an embarassment to the team and highlighted the disconnect between the players and team. Its also unfortuately a sentiment shared by many around the league that the pirates were not interested in contending this year or making any sorta moves to be a competitor for the playoffs. Do you really think free agents wanna sign here? With this ownership group?? If the bucs wouldnt have made these moves and had a bad year, the amount of disdain from the media, fans even the clubhouse would make playing for the pirates a pity until a new regime comes along. Their reputation is shot and to have two key players call the team out like that and not do anything would prove what everybody thinks the bucs are really doing(cutting payoll to line ownerships pocket). Now these moves lend credence to the fact they think they can win but the city nd fans are fed up with ownership so they need to win or tread carefully cuz i feel this could get ugly between ownership and everyone else quick.
Forgive me, but so much wrong here.
Free agents will sign to play in Beirut if that’s where the most money is.
Nutting has shown that he doesn’t mind what the fans or media think of his reign. You know how I know? Because he hasn’t changed.
Unfortunately we cannot make him sell the team so I do not think he gives 2 damns if anything “gets ugly.”
Btw, if Freese is a “key player” then he indicted HIMSELF from a leadership/culture standpoint as he has been here during the time period he so recently and so cowardly bemoaned.
Sorry pirates fans. I root 4 u when not playing my phillies.my family us west va,mckeesport. Hes done. If my PHILS didnt sign him,with kranitz as p.c….hes done. You guys DO have best pitching coach in league..hope he works,a miracle. I DO root 4 yous. But..tell me..yoys have a starting pitcher wr could use,yoys soured on?? Id love to blog him here. Not bri g smart.PA STRONG Let me kno so i can bandwagon him….