The Pirates are in agreement with left-hander Chasen Shreve on a minor-league contract, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN (Twitter link). The deal will guarantee him $1.5MM if he makes Pittsburgh’s MLB roster, per Passan. The Pirates have since announced the move.
Shreve, 30, is coming off a decent 2020 season with the Mets, where he pitched to a 3.96 ERA/3.45 SIERA across 25 relief innings. Impressively, Shreve struck out a third of the batters he faced, a career-best mark that tied for twentieth among the 141 relievers with at least 20 innings pitched. Relatedly, Shreve’s 17.1% swinging strike rate tied for thirteenth among that group.
It’s a bit surprising a left-hander with that kind of swing-and-miss stuff wound up settling for a minor-league deal, but Shreve has proven susceptible to both walks and home runs over the course of his career. That continued last season, as he allowed four home runs (1.44 HR/9) while walking a higher-than-average 11.8% of opposing hitters.
Control issues notwithstanding, it’d still register as a bit of a surprise if Shreve doesn’t earn a spot on Pittsburgh’s big league roster out of spring training. At present, only Austin Davis and Sam Howard occupy left-handed relief roles on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster.
Who is he Chasen and why?
Cause they won’t be Chasen a pennant, baby!!
I’m surprised that the Marlins didn’t snag him after reportedly being interested, especially at that price.
He’s chasen a pay check.
I don’t see a reason why he wouldn’t make the Pirates roster, unless his arm blows up or he has a terrible spring training.
the realize they gave him a 1.5 million bonus rather then $1.50
Somebody on the Pirate legal team screwed up. Added a few extra zeros.
I can’t believe he only got a minor league deal after a solid season and guys like Alex wood who’s always hurt , got a guarantee deals over and over
I was surprised too, especially from the pirates. Granted, the pirates being this bad, this essentially is a major league deal. And wood has more upside than shreve and is a starter
Yeah , I’ve been hearing the same thing about wood the last 3 years now and it’s always the same , hurt for the most part of the season ! It’s not only wood , there’s a few guys like that !
I don’t think it’s too surprising of a deal for a lower end middle relief type like Shreve who has historically had walk and HR issues. I’m more surprised at him signing with a bad team at this point in the offseason.
Good signing. He impressed me last year and I remember him as being good with the Yankees several years back.
Pretty decent signing
Surprised he had to settle for a minor league deal. While he’s not exactly dominant, he was pretty good last season and has had prior success in the past. Plus he’s a lefty. Solid get for the Pirates (haven’t said that in a while).
I thought he’d at least get $900K guaranteed in a MLB deal
Minor league deal on a minor league team. That’s rough.
Minor league commit . Keep the negative stuff at home.
Dice 66-Baseball pun means well,he just cannot help himself.
Please let him be himself.
Nice pickup. I’m pleasantly surprised, especially that he settled for a minor league deal. Now sign about 8 more pitchers like him and the Pirates might have something… or not.
They could threaten for 14th in the NL.
That high?
Connfy-They would have something if they all could hit like Brault and they could have unlimited dh’s for the fielders!
Never been a fan of Brault but at least he can hit a little.
Theo divin’ dumpster
This guy always finds a way to make the final roster spot. Good thing he’s a lefty.
Drove me semi-crazy when the Yanks kept using him as a matchup lefty when he hads reverse splits. They did it for years, man.
Sign about 10 more of these types and let them battle it out in camp and regular season.
Pirates have nothing on their payroll, not sure why they aren’t just loading up the roster with guys who can fill a role and/or get traded at the deadline. That’s what the Royals done the past few years.
Don’t think players want to sign a 1 yr deal to lose most days if not every. Why not sign anywhere else, if no other offers then sign with the pirates
Why watch then ? The 69 Mets come out of nowhere! It starts with good young pitching.
I always thought that Chasen Shreve and Andrew Chafin were the same person. Kind of like Wade LeBlanc and Robbie Erlin. I’m also a little surprised that Shreve had to settle for a minor league deal. But I guess $1.5M is the going rate for fungible RP’s, even if they throw from the left side. I have to think that Shreve makes the Pirates and, just maybe, becomes a semi-important cog in the Pirates’ pen. Or, and just as easily, he could be DFA’d before the teams all head north and all we’ll be left with is the question, “what if?”