The Pirates have claimed right-handed pitcher Parker Markel off waivers from the Mariners, per announcements from both clubs. Markel had previously been designated for assignment by the Mariners on July 23rd. To accommodate the addition of Markel to their 40-man roster, the Pirates have transferred righty Rookie Davis from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list; Markel will be optioned to Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.
For the Pirates, Markel represents an intriguing, nearly cost-free addition to their organizational relief corps. For one thing, the 6’4 hurler is a graduate of Yavapai College–a community college in tiny Prescott, Ariz., which has produced several big leaguers, including Curt Schilling, Kirby Yates, Ken Giles, and both Willie and Kole Calhoun. That interesting bit of trivia aside, Markel’s play in AAA this year has offered some signs of a player who may end up as a useful MLB reliever.
Selected by the Rays in the 39th round of the 2010 draft, Markel toiled for nearly a decade in the minors before signing a minor league deal with Seattle this offseason. Subsequent stints in AA Arkansas and AAA Tacoma indicated a changed man: the formerly groundball-oriented Markel struck out 62 batters in 35.1 innings before receiving a big league audition with the M’s in May. Though he was thoroughly knocked around in that cup of coffee (and in a subsequent one-game July callup), Markel’s slider-based, suddenly overpowering repertoire could possibly aid the Pirates beleaguered bullpen in short order.
That’s a fun name to say five times fast. Enjoy the simple things.
markel parkers disease. the sudden urge to claim anyone after your ship has sunk
I’m gonna Parker in his Markel. Then he’s gonna be all like, “ewww I gotta take a ish.”
It could be worse, the Pirates could try using Rookie Davis again. Or Geoff Hartlieb. Or Dovydas Neverauskas. Or Clay Holmes. Or Alex McRae. Or at least a half dozen other guys they’ve tried this year who shouldn’t be pitching in the majors.
Agree 100%. Especially Dovydas Nevergetouts. Why Hurdle continues calling on him when I can remember one time he did the job in a close game, is beyond me. Never have seen such a pitiful bullpen even in the bad yrs.
**can NOT remember** ☝️
STOP.Trust the process.NH could have signed two or three decent relievers instead of Gonzalez and Chisenhall.Instead he signed Brandon Mauer and Rookie Davis.He could have signed a decent starter for the money that they did not spend this year.He trusted his process of thinking that everything would go as planned..
I have hopes that some of these young guys can become at least decent ML pitchers but NH did not have a backup plan because he does not trust signing free agents.Other than the great Jordan Lyles.
Hopefully Neil develops a better plan for next year.
Signings like Markel really cannot hurt as this type of guy could possibly turn into something.
But Neil needs to have a much better plan for next year.
The Pirates leadership consider their fans fools that follow to Stadium for old timers, bobble heads and Fireworks.
No World Series appearances since 1979 is a continued sign of failure!!! In my job, I would not be allowed perform poorly for the lengthy of time this Organization has performed. This can no longer be tolerated. The Pirates need to fire a lot of underperforming parts of Organization. Sad that in my reminder of my years you n this earth that I won’t be able to see the Pirates back in the World Series.
I refuse to have any faith in the Bucs until Huntington is gone.
I wish all 3 clowns would go Neil,Clint and Ray. It’s Time! Let Cora run the team the rest of the year.
It’s the owner that’s the problem.
And that’s the bottom line: Nutting. Huntington must have limits to what he can do and Hurdle…well, how much can he do with a lack of talent, heart and hustle squad. They deify Leyland in this town but he would have bailed by now and truth be told, wasn’t much either
The Archer trade will forever be the signature—the descriptor—of this FO. Stock your minor leagues and then trade/give up your top young talent before they ever even get a chance
A FO without any plan at all
Budget will always be the same and Nutting won’t sell.
But at least bring in a GM who doesn’t get bullied in trades.
Tired of Huntington never getting top prospects back in return.
Moran and Musgrove is not an acceptable return from a team that had Kyle Tucker, Forrest Whitley, and Yordan Alvarez among others.
Guarantee the Felipe return is just as underwhelming.
Or even in AAA
Yes, Nutting is mostly to blame but if Huntington hired good people in the ops and development part of the organization things wouldn’t be this bad. They are horrid at scouting, drafting, development and (for the most part) trades. They Rays have a lower payroll and look what they’re doing.
I agree. Huntington is incompetent.. Bob will be Bob.
We all said team had no direction after Archer trade..
Now we find ourselves in the midst of a full rebuild.. but without our top rookie (Meadows)
Pretty much worst case scenario and hell for fans.
Huntington & Searage should both be fired tomorrow after Archers bloody start today.
Time to send a message.
When you plant beans, you get beans. This organization has got to stop depositing the fans money in their pockets.