The Pirates claimed right-hander Connor Overton off waivers from the Blue Jays on Monday, according to a club announcement from Pittsburgh. To make room on the 40-man roster, righty Duane Underwood Jr. was transferred from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list.
Overton, 28, was designated for assignment by the Jays last week to make roster space for their waiver claim of veteran infielder Jake Lamb. Overton’s initial call the Majors this season was his first, and he responded by tossing 6 2/3 innings of scoreless ball with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. It was the continuation of a strong season in Triple-A, where he’d logged a 2.03 ERA with a below-average 21.6 percent strikeout rate but an excellent 4.3 percent walk rate and an above-average 47.9 percent ground-ball rate.
The bulk of Overton’s career has been spent in the Giants organization, although he was originally a 15th-round pick of the Marlins back in 2014. He’s been a minor league free agent on three occasions, going first to the Nationals, then to the Giants and lastly to the Blue Jays. Along the way, Overton has battled multiple injuries, including Tommy John surgery, and played for a pair of teams on the independent circuit: the Atlantic League’s Lancaster Barnstormers and the American Association’s Sioux City Explorers.
It hasn’t been the most straightforward path to the big leagues for Overton, but he’ll get another opportunity to add to an impressive start now that he’s headed to the Pirates. Overton has all of his minor league options remaining, so he could be a flexible depth option for the Bucs next season if they’re willing to keep him on the 40-man roster all winter. In parts of three Triple-A seasons, Overton has a 2.39 ERA with a 22.4 percent strikeout rate, a 5.4 percent walk rate and a 46.9 percent ground-ball rate.
this guy has the makings of a nice late-bloomer
How can the Pirates possibly protect all these discarded gems, along with their untapped home-grown talent for the upcoming Rule 5 draft?
Suffering from Success
They can just try and sneak them through outright waivers if they have to and stash them in the minors.
There’s a handful of guys I think they’ll be able to sneak through. Like Abrahan Guiterrez is probably one prospect they can get through. He’s doing very well at A-Ball, but it’s also A-Ball and he’s 21 (will be 22 in 2022). Same thing with Eddy Yean. They’ll also probably add Omar Cruz to the 40-man, who was part of the Joe Musgrove trade. He’s done solid with the Bucs so far, and I expect him to be part of the pitching staff by the end of 2022. Maybe they’ll be able to swing some trades like what they did with Braeden Ogel. Swaping a Rule 5 eligible player for a low-level prospect (someone like Oliva+Stratton for something).
Yeah I think Guti can sneak past the R5, though then again, Torrens didnt.
not so sure gutierrez will get through rule 5 just a gut feeling
i believe as you about omar
some of the early choices like thomas are falling off
bolton is from a past administration
and don’t lose castillo peguero shortstops are primo
Bolton is as good as gone in my opinion. Hope they can do a trade involving him because I still think he has some value, but the Pirates have too many other important names to protect. I don’t think the current regime really view him as a long term option either. The plan was to start him in the bullpen this year before he got injured. He’s a guy that after all the other players are added, if you can still make room for him, then add him. But don’t go out of the way to add him either.
I still really like Tahnaj Thomas. He’s a top 100 prospect by FanGraphs rankings, which gives me hope he can figure things out. But he’s a guy that you can’t just lose for nothing in the Rule 5.
I think they’ll be fine. There’s nearly a dozen or so guys on the 40-man they could DFA, release or trade leading up to the deadline to put players on the roster. Cole Tucker, Anthony Banda, Kyle Keller, Sam Howard, Shelby Miller, Dillon Peters, Shea Spitzbarth, Phillip Evans, Jared Oliva, and Cody Ponce are all guys I could see being DFA’d. Most of them could probably sneak through waivers. Yoshi Tsutsugo and Chasen Shreve are both FA’s at the end of the season (though I’d like to see them retain at least Tsutsugo). They could trade Chris Stratton and Steven Brault. Kevin Newman is still in limbo in my opinion.
It’s not like all the prospects they’ll be adding won’t be in the majors in 3+ years. Travis Swaggerty, Diego Castillo, Smith-Njigba, Mason Martin, and Jack Suwinski are all guys I think will be in the majors before the end of 2022. The only guys I would be really worried about are Liover Peguero, Tahnaj Thomas, and Santiago Florez. But you can always spare 2-3 40-man spots for guys at A-Ball.
Sounds like most of the active roaster is gone, in your opinion! I agree! Your future is in the minors. Protect them. A proud Brewer fan’s opinion!
Really, the only guys who are really important to the long term future on the 25-man roster is Reynolds, Hayes, Bednar, and a few starting pitchers like Mitch Keller, Bryse Wilson, JT Brubaker, maybe Wil Crowe and Max Kranick. Short term future, you could also add like Jacob Stallings and maybe Michael Chavis.
Least of their worries. Lots of jetsam and flotsam on that 40 man.
Why dont you slime your way back under your rock. If you hate the pirates…ROOT FOR SOME OTHER TEAM
I can see why you’re so miserable, as the Pirates haven’t been competitive since Drabek’s Cy Young season. Grow up.
Right. Like 2013-2015 Pirates team never existed. C’mon dude!
Darth-grade 1 teacher actually flunked first grade
TO Ghost:If you do not clean house, you will still be calling everybody stupid in 3 or 4 years!
Ghost- unfortunately lee is correct
Will Rule 5 draft even happen this year if there not gonna be a new CBA? And MLB and The Union has zero chance to sign the papers before December 1. Should the Pirates be worried about Rule 5 at all? Do they in fact worry about that?
I’d still go into the off-season with the assumption that there will be a Rule 5 draft until the league is notified otherwise. Though that is a good question.
Finally, an ace for the pitching staff.
Vazquez can serve a life sentence now because the Pirates found their closer.
AND YOU can serve a life sentence for stupidity
Get a sense of humor.
I think Vazquez is already out, time served i believe. I hope he gets deported back to Venezuela – that would be the real punishment
He isn’t out but only has about half a year left to serve. However he’s still facing charges in Florida and Missouri too.
It was solely a numbers game for the Jays. He pitched very well for them. Issue is that they’d rather keep guys in the bullpen that can strike out the opposition. And although he can get outs he doesn’t do it by the strikeout.
What’s the under/over on Overton?
Overton had a few decent outings from the Jays bullpen. He might be a solid pickup for them.
A good pickup. Overton is actually pretty decent.
I agree with you! He is better than most of the Pirate’s current bullpen! Your old bullpen, ,from a month ago, was competitive but overused! You traded all of them . Time to upgrade and not just replace bad with bad!
Regarding the Pirates 40 man roster, As Chuck Noll once said cutting isn’t the problem. Stopping is.
I like the pick up. I think Cherington is on his way to building the next contending Pirate team.
Being a Lifetime Buccos fan sure isn’t easy. I was 9 when they won their last WS. I hope to see another 🙂
Based on small market WS wins since 1991,and if you live another 40 years,you have about a 15% chance of seeing another one.
You can say that again. It’s miserable. The owner is a disgrace for the lack of proving winning is important to him at all.
Overton’s window is closing.
Seemed like a decent pickup. They could DFA just about anyone after the year. I would expect him to get some time eventually here this season.