The Pirates will sign Yoshi Tsutsugo, according to Yuki Yamada of Sankei Sports. Tsutsugo had been designated by the Dodgers in July and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma, but was released yesterday. The Pirates have a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move of some kind.
Pittsburgh will be Tsutsugo’s third big league team this season. He started off the year with the Rays for the second season of the two-year contract he signed in December of 2019. In the first half of the deal, he put up a line of .197/.314/.395, production just slightly below average, evidenced by wRC+ of 98. However, his 2021 season got off to a miserable start, slashing .167/.244/.218 with Tampa, a wRC+ of 36 and enough for them to cut him loose, designating him for assignment in May.
The Dodgers were intrigued enough to send cash considerations to the Rays and give him a shot. Unfortunately, his stint in Hollywood wasn’t much better, as he produced a line of .120/.290/.120, a wRC+ of 38.
However, since accepted that Triple-A assignment, he has shown much better form, hitting .257/.361/.507, a wRC+ of 108 over 180 plate appearances in Oklahoma City. This bounceback appears to have intrigued the Pirates enough to give him a roster spot. There will be no financial risk for the team, as the Rays are on the hook for the majority of his remaining salary, as was agreed upon in their trade with the Dodgers.
This actually seems like a good fit
Great fit. If he can do what he did overseas for Pittsburgh he’ll be a mainstay in that lineup for 5 years.
Lol he’ll hit 097 in Pittsburgh and go back to Japan next year
He might. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good idea for the Pirates to find out, it’s not really costing them much.
We expected that Tsutsugo would have trouble in MLB before leaving Japan because he is not good at dealing with a fastball unlike Hideki Matsui. In addition, in terms of performance in Japan, he did not do as well as Hideki did. I wonder why Rays spent a lot of money signing him because they are famous for being frugal.
Maybe both of you are right? He’ll hit .097 and stay in Pittsburgh for 5 years.
Just in time for him to face the Dodgers if he’s called up.
Ahhh haaa! Time for some payback from the Rays for their “heist” of Meadows Glasnow and Baz. From the Dodgers to the Pirates. A drop so far he may never recover.
Oklahoma City to Pittsburgh. Not as steep of a drop.
All we have is a nicer ballpark. I’m sure OK has the better team
Does anybody have his sabermetrics from the time he’s spent in AAA to determine how he’s improved? I don’t need his stat lines, just algorithms and advanced statistics.
Troll
Brody, Brody, Brody. While your constant call for algorithms and advanced statistics does not make you sound intelligent, it does make you sound silly. Please stop.
methinks….. hes joking
This will definitely boost the offense.
Maybe it’s a bet on who can produce less, Polanco or Tsutsugo. I’ll take the under.
Do you think Polanco will be dfa’d before the end of the season?
I’m not sure about that but I’m fairly confident the $3,000,000 check for his departure is already made out!
No. Option will be declined obviously. They don’t have much in the way of options in the outfield. They bring up Anthony Alford and he strikes out more than most pitchers. Cherington said the other day that he’s going to be here all year in so many words.
The Pirates outfield carousel reminds me a lot of the Giants a few years back just grab players give them a look and cast them aside if they can’t produce and move on to the next. Hopefully they can find somebody that has slipped through and can produce
Could also make some comparrisons to the Pirates’ first base situation. From 2010-2015, Jeff Clement, Garrett Jones, Lyle Overbay, Case McGehee, Gaby Sanchez, Justin Morneau, Pedro Alvarez could all claim they were a starting first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pedro Alvarez attended the same High School that I did. So.
You should have added 2016 with the random John Jaso, Bell, Freese, and Mike Morse experiment
you forgot TRAVIS ISHIKAWA…….dammit
Considering who the Bucs have been trotting out to the outfield other than Reynolds, this move is a good idea, a no-lose proposition.
Ben Gamel has been pretty good
True, thank you. I forgot about him because he’s been on the IL until he was activated I think today. He got off to a poor start as a Pirate but has been solid since.
Penthouse to outhouse.
Tsutsugo. Another pickup by the “we-don’t-make-mistakes” Rays.
Glad to see Yoshi get another chance. Hope he does well.
(The myth that the Rays never miss is just that, a myth. I guarantee all of my fellow fans can give you a list of mistakes…fortunately the FO gets more right than it gets wrong.)
Seems strange the Pirates would want to release someone from the 40 man roster for someone they probably won’t keep next year?
There’s about a dozen+ guys on the 40-man they could DFA or release to make room.
ka-ai tom
They might keep Yoshi if he shows well. Polanco will be gone, there might be room for Yoshi.
Please he sucks typical 4A player who can’t hit MLB high velocity fastballs.
Why would Cherington sign him? Crazy move.
Just got to say the recent talent from the jpl and the kbo has not come through at the mlb level. We all know ohtani is killing it, but he was also playing well at a young age over in the Jpl. Akiyama, yoshi, Kim with the Padres, shun Yamaguchi and Kikuchi had an awful first season. Kim has pitched well in stl
If this revolving door of waiver wire/rule 5 trash this year isnt a wake-up call to Nutting to maybe sign a competent outfielder or two to a few million dollars for actual MLB talent? One year deals, nothing crazy, to bridge the gap when legit prospects can take over.
They will do exactly that. Polanco will be gone. They are going to have to pay 3 million when his option is declined, so there’s that. I expect the rest of his money to be spent on a OF and pitching (bridge the gap types).
Hollywood? Talk about cliches gone wild.
Nogowski ain’t good. Has no position besides first base. Shagging balls in the outfield doesn’t mean he can play there. Not sure tsutugo is any good either. In fact, would be surprised if he’s anything but a pile of suck. I believe nogowskis lack of versatility has got him the DFA, but doubt his replacement is any better.