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Pirates Claim Ben Gamel, Designate Michael Feliz

By Anthony Franco | May 9, 2021 at 12:45pm CDT

The Pirates have claimed outfielder Ben Gamel off waivers from the Indians, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among those to pass along (Twitter links). To create space on the 40-man roster, righty Michael Feliz was designated for assignment.

Gamel signed a minor-league contract with the Indians over the offseason and earned an Opening Day roster spot with a productive Spring Training. The 28-year-old couldn’t carry that over into the regular season, though, going just 1-17 with three walks and six strikeouts before Cleveland moved on. Tough start to 2021 notwithstanding, Gamel has been an acceptable role player for much of his MLB career. Also a former Yankee, Mariner and Brewer, the left-handed hitter has managed a .259/.330/.385 line (95 wRC+) over parts of six major league seasons.

The Pirates have cycled through a handful of outfielders in the season’s first month-plus. Dustin Fowler and Anthony Alford were quickly waived after terrible starts, and the Pirates are currently without Gregory Polanco due to a COVID-19 protocol violation. General manager Ben Cherington did say this afternoon on 93.7 The Fan that the Pirates expect Polanco back shortly (h/t to Mackey). Left fielder Bryan Reynolds is currently day-to-day with lower body soreness (via Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic), so Gamel will add some depth to a shortened outfield.

That outfield shuffling comes at the expense of Feliz, who joined the Pirates as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. The 27-year-old reliever has tossed 113 1/3 innings of 5.00 ERA ball since, mostly between 2018-19. Feliz has only allowed three runs (two earned) through 7 2/3 innings with quality strikeout and walk rates, but he’s been fortunate to not allow a home run despite a paltry 13.6% grounder rate. The Pirates have a week to trade Feliz or expose him to waivers, where his affordable $1MM salary could appeal to a rival club.

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Cleveland Guardians Pittsburgh Pirates Transactions Ben Gamel Bryan Reynolds Gregory Polanco Michael Feliz

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View Comments (40)

Comments

  1. The Baseball Fan (Doesn’t like the Cubs)

    1 year ago

    Ok… I guess

    Reply
  2. RJNarvick

    1 year ago

    Tribe has lack of productive outfielders and cut Gamel. Enough said.

    Reply
    • sufferfortribe 2

      1 year ago

      Gamel stunk even worse than he did during spring training. That’s why he got jettisoned.

      Reply
      • dixoncayne

        1 year ago

        He stunk so bad in Spring Training he made the team

        Reply
  3. mlb1225

    1 year ago

    Wow, a Feliz DFA is surprising. He looked a lot better in the second half of 2019 and was injured most of 2020. I thought the Pirates might hold onto him to see if they can get any bites at the trade deadline before DFA’ing him entierly.

    Reply
    • Mendoza Line 215

      1 year ago

      MLB-It surprises me too in that he has pitched decently this year and last.
      He is a one trick pony though as he can only pitch well in low leverage situations.He wasn’t too bad lately in the seventh inning but don’t pitch him later than that.
      I am surprised that they have kept Sean Poppen and Hartlieb could have been sent back down.

      Reply
  4. bluejaysfan

    1 year ago

    I hope the Jays can take a flier on Feliz. They are in need of some bullpen help.

    Reply
    • tim815

      1 year ago

      I doubt he gets to TB on the waiver wire.

      Is he worth a trade?

      Reply
    • jimmyz

      1 year ago

      Feliz’ big issue is giving up homers. I don’t the the AL East ballparks would be the best place for him.

      Reply
  5. connfyoozed

    1 year ago

    Well, they need outfielders… and Gamel’s an outfielder… I guess. I’m kind of surprised that Feliz would be the one to get DFA’d, and I can’t imagine that he would make it through waivers.

    Reply
  6. Polish Hammer

    1 year ago

    Congratulations on the big time acquisition…

    Reply
    • sufferfortribe 2

      1 year ago

      🙂

      Reply
    • Ghost of past pirates

      1 year ago

      Congratulations on being a grade 1 troll

      Reply
      • Polish Hammer

        1 year ago

        Woohoo, World Series bound with that key addition…

        Reply
  7. PapiElf

    1 year ago

    I wonder why the Pirates DFA’d Feliz. Wilmer Difo and Clay Holmes seemed like possible candidates. It’s going to be a surprise if Feliz isn’t claimed.

    Reply
    • YourDreamGM

      1 year ago

      I can give you a million reasons why they choose Feliz.

      Reply
    • 3Rivers

      1 year ago

      Difo is a jack of all trades guy, so he wasn’t going… And they like Holmes.

      Reply
      • connfyoozed

        1 year ago

        They do like Holmes… why, I have little idea, but they do.

        Reply
    • alwaysgo4two

      1 year ago

      Not released. DFAd. They’re going to either trade, waive, or release him. I’m thinking a trade to a crappy pen. I’m sure that the Phillies are interested.

      Reply
      • sch1989 2

        1 year ago

        Feliz for Román Quinn

        Reply
  8. tim815

    1 year ago

    Which begs a question.

    Can the Pirates replace him with a player from the taxi squad, and then bounce that player back without penalty.

    Or do they play a man short today?

    I’ll let you know if they’re playing a man short soon.

    Reply
    • tim815

      1 year ago

      26 on the roster.

      Reply
  9. sufferfortribe 2

    1 year ago

    Geez, would you sports writers PLEASE STOP saying Gamel had a productive spring. He was awful, but Francona liked that he could play all 3 outfield positions.
    Daniel Johnson had a fantastic spring training, but had minor league options remaining, so Francona in all his brilliance chose the unproductive veteran. Did the same thing with Bobby Bradley/Jake Bauers.

    Reply
    • Steve Nebraska

      1 year ago

      Francona doesn’t make the decisions on who is in the MLB. He just manages the players the GM gives him.

      Reply
      • Samuel

        1 year ago

        That’s dumb…..

        Terry meets with the FO people every day, often multiple times. They come to decisions together on players.

        Most MLB teams do this now.

        Reply
        • Ghost of past pirates

          1 year ago

          That’s why Steve Nebraska should go back to shucking corn

    • Rsox

      1 year ago

      Bauers was because he was out of options and they wanted to see what he could do with regular AB’s. However, now that they’ve seen it i don’t know why they keep doing it…

      Reply
      • sufferfortribe 2

        1 year ago

        Which is what I posted.

        Reply
      • Burgeezy

        1 year ago

        He’s actually not been completely awful as of late. I know I’m setting a high bar there but still

        Reply
  10. Rsox

    1 year ago

    The one thing Gamel does is allow the Pirates to move Reynolds back to LF against RH pitchers which will allow Evans to sit more and play mostly agains Lefties if Gamel sticks

    Reply
  11. YourDreamGM

    1 year ago

    Good luck to anyone claiming Feliz. I would have non tendered him. For sure dfa him instead of Fulmer. He has looked alright though recently. Maybe they think they can get something for him or dump his salary. They must not see him amounting to anything if they drop him for Gamel.

    Reply
    • leefieux

      1 year ago

      Career ERA over 5.00 will get you DFA’d

      Reply
  12. Ron Tingley

    1 year ago

    Swapped Goodwin for Gamel. Two outfielders the Angels should have signed to try and help fill that black hole that was Kole Calhoun.

    Reply
  13. Johhos

    1 year ago

    No HR yet ? Can he walk to the mound on his own power ? Then Philly wants a word..? As long as he won’t throw a PH a fastball in the heart of the plate…

    Reply
  14. Burgeezy

    1 year ago

    I wonder what this means for Tom. Not like there is a lack of playing time, but it does seem like they are cycling through warm bodies in the outfield much like Cleveland.

    Reply
  15. formerdraftpick

    1 year ago

    Feliz and Polanco to the Red Sox for Franchy and a prospect

    Reply
  16. holecamels35

    1 year ago

    Remember when the Pirates had an outfield of Marte, McCutchen, and Polanco when he was good? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

    Reply
  17. Mendoza Line 215

    1 year ago

    Marte was the only one who did not drop off quickly.

    Reply
  18. douglasb

    1 year ago

    Reynolds out for long?

    Reply
    • Mendoza Line 215

      1 year ago

      Supposedly just a few days.

      Reply

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