The Pirates have signed catcher Andrew Susac to a new minor league deal, Baseball America’s Chris Hilburn-Trenkle reports. Susac initially signed a minors contract with the Bucs last January and was outrighted off Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster following the season.
Susac ended up appearing in a single game for the Pirates in 2020, marking his first big league action since the 2018 season (he spent 2019 with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate). In 304 plate appearances over parts of six MLB seasons, Susac has hit .219/.286/.371 with seven home runs.
With Susac back in the fold, the Pirates have retained some veteran catching depth as they go through that could be a semi-overhaul of their options behind the plate. Pittsburgh already claimed Michael Perez from the Rays earlier this week and the arbitration-eligible John Ryan Murphy and Luke Maile both look like non-tender candidates. Jacob Stallings (also eligible for arbitration for the first time) was the Pirates’ starting catcher in 2020 and looks like the favorite for regular duty next year.
Maile and JR Murphy both elected FA after being outrighted.
Championship.
Sure why not. Murphy was easily replaceable and Stallings could be trade bait, so maybe Susan gets a shot at more playing time this year.
Susan might just be better than Susac.
This team has a championship pedigree, if they were in Double A.
Pittsburgh’s finest Bad News Bears! If it can’t get worse, it does
Nothing really to trade. Very little in the minors. The hits just keep on comin’
?
Fangraphs has them as like the 5th best minor league system.
Shhhh,ElGaupo. You know, narrative and all.
Negativity always rises to the bottom.
El Gaupo made the mistake of trying to interject facts.
His career WAR is greater than 0 so he is better than some on the roster who had negative numbers this year.