The Pirates announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed outfielder Greg Allen off waivers from the Yankees. Allen had been selected to the big league roster before New York’s AL Wild Card game but didn’t appear in the contest.
During the regular season, the 28-year-old Allen saw only fifteen games of action in pinstripes. He made the most of that time, putting up a huge .270/.417/.432 slash line and going a perfect 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts. His Triple-A production was even better, as the switch-hitter mashed at a .326/.442/.465 clip over 263 plate appearances with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The rebuilding Pirates will take a no-risk flier to see if Allen can build off his 2021 campaign. A fairly well-regarded prospect coming up in the Cleveland farm system, he didn’t hit well enough to cement himself as an everyday player. From 2017-20, he posted a meager .239/.298/.343 mark, and advanced defensive metrics weren’t enamored with his work in center field.
Assuming he sticks on the 40-man roster all offseason, Allen will get a shot to compete for a job in Spring Training. He’s out of minor league option years, so the Bucs will either need to carry him on the major league roster out of camp or make him available to the rest of the league.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the move.
He wasn’t gonna be the reason the Yankees would’ve been better, but he changed the dynamic for the team when he played. A shame
The Yankees just chose a weird way to spell Tyler Wade.
Tyler Wade owns compromising photos of Cashman.
They were better when he was there than they were before or after so I don’t think you can make that statement with much confidence..
I sure wish we could have found out. It wasn’t like they needed to make a long term commitment at that point.
Sometimes you just keep doing what’s working. I’d argue most of the time but…
There is a reason Greg Allen has been in four organizations now in the past year. He’s a known quantity. He can help a team defensively or with speed, but he can’t hit. The Yankees will sign another Greg Allen type and put him in AAA before the start of the 2022 season. He’s not worth a 40-man roster spot. Neither is Locastro. Neither is Valazquez.
The Pirates love Yankee players for some reason.
This one quiet move filled their OF vacancy, improved team defense, improved team speed, and gave the Bucs a good ball player with outstanding minor league career stats who is controllable thru the 2024 season and finally gets a shot to be an everyday player in the Show. Great pickup!
Better than some of their other choices that they had to fill a roster spot until Swaggerty,, Fraizer, Mitchell, or Smith-Njigba are ready.
My favorites the Bucs got from the Yanks were AJ Burnett & Francisco Cervelli
Considering they have so many Rule V players to protect, this is an odd move.
I’m pretty sure the Bucs plan to start him in LF. This is their guy. They needed one OF and they realize they aren’t getting Tsutsugo back, so this is the solution. Now they move Gamel to RF. Reynolds in CF, unless Allen can cover more ground and is used in CF. I guess Alford will be the 4th OF.
You are probably right.
I don’t think they’ve ruled out Tsutsugo. Even if they did bring him back, he’d primarly be a 1B/DH rather than an outfield option.
True. I hope they can still get him, especially if the DH is adopted.
No, but I think Tsutsugo has ruled them out
Not!
Done deal!
I can’t take another season of an outfield filled with waiver wire trash. Alford, Gamel, now Allen… theyre all 4th outfielder-types on bad teams and wouldn’t even make a decent team. But for the Pirates….. its their starting RF/LF.
They have a lot of options to drop roster spots from as it is. They will be able to protect most of their Rule V guys. regardless
Agreed. I see about 10 guys on the 40-man that should be jettisoned.
After the news that Gardy declined his player option (and Yankees subsequently declining their club option on him), I thought Allen would’ve been a great option to take Gardy’s spot on the roster… I was obviously mistaken haha
Better option is Tyler Wade who offers exceptional infield defense at 3 positions, base stealing ability but doesn’t offer the occasional power that Gardy displayed.
Looks like the Yankees are subtracting dollars to make a free agent deal. Stay tuned!
Wade is NOT a good defender. He was especially bad at SS. And there is zero power in his bat. I don’t expect him to hit HRs, but someone with his speed should have some doubles. He’s a slap hitter with zero threat of driving the ball into a gap.
Allan didn’t make dollars.
He was on the standard minor league fractional peso plan.
Now with free housing!
A depth move. Maybe a preview to some rule 5 being moved. Bring back some non rule 5 eligible players
Just clearing the deck for Starling Marte.
Or…so I hope.
We can hope. If not, and this is for other reasons I’ll be pissed. They should’ve rolled with Allen anyway, instead of Jonathan Davis who was garbage.
Now Locastro, who is the fastest player in baseball, and Velasquez too. Cashman better do something to fill each spot this winter, and NOT with Amdrelton Simmons.
Well…I can see certain permutations this offseason where Simmons would work as a part of a series of moves, @Clipper.
We will have to see the free agent predictions. But I think for a Lindor (34.2 mil AAV) the Yanks (after moving on from GGBG & Voit thus saving ~ $7 mil…which is kinda sad for me, personally) could: re-sign Rizzo, sign Marte, trade minor assets for DeJong, add a RH middle reliever, & bring Chirinos back to upgrade Higgy. That would be a good ballclub.
It should also fit the Hal/Cash/Boone sweet spot of 98 wins too.
Add to the rotation (hopefully a *durable* above average arm) & we are once again the AL favorite.
I know that would run the risk of underwhelming Yankee Nation. However, it would be entirely defensible & we *would* be a better club. Which I feel is the bottom line to an offseason.
Yes, Ducky, I think you’re absolutely right about it improving the club. I do wonder if Casman will potentially target Mitch Garver now that the Twins have the Jeffers kid who performed well this season.
Garver is like Tucker Barnhart, only flip-flopped in stats – very good offense and average defense. I’d take that in a heartbeat. I was surprised to see that he has outperformed Contreras, offensively, in recent seasons (when healthy).
I really think bringing someone like Marte for CF, an improved defensive SS with average hitting, and some form of upgrade at C will make a huge difference. I mean, even Boone might not be able to screw that one up. And as for 98 wins? Yep, I’m good with that….
I think so too, Clip.
Look. I’m a Yankee fan. So I love my Gerrit Cole signings & Stanton trades, etc. But a lot of Yankee fans seem to fixate on only those Big Moves. But Cash – aside from 2020 – always seems to do a good job with incremental, marginal, & depth improvements.
He also has a penchant of overengineering his bullpens & lineup while skimping on the rotation (again aside from ’20). &…well, it works, bro. A rebuilding season where we finished with a winning record & hung around the WC2 race well into Sept followed by 5 straight playoff seasons. Man. 20+ fan bases around MLB would love a run like that.
We’re Yankee fans so there’s a bit of “ho-hum” about it. Yet that is a good run. But. Adding those 5 players for the cost of Lindor would basically ensure another playoff team. & a *possible* championship.
I don’t see the Twins trading Garver unless they are overwhelmed with an offer. They are absolutely trying to win. I respect how the Twins operate. They do not tank. Rather, they go for a reload every season. I don’t see that changing & I think they see exactly what you do in him.
Most likely a real longshot. Good catcher though.
Cool man. I figured you’d have a pretty good handle on how MN operates living there. Cashman usually comes through with something big when motivated, so we will see what it is. I must admit, I will not be satisfied with C now unless Gary pulls a 180, or we acquire Contreras (or Garver, which seems highly unlikely).
Yeah we are spoiled; it’s also the exact reason many other teams’ fans claims to care about players getting a bigger share of the pot while also clamoring for the salary cap and other big-market restrictions – because they want their less successful teams floated to the postseason under the guise of “fairness.”
What they’re really saying is they want their team to be the Yanks/LAD/Cards by forcing our teams to downgrade via monetary restrictions, all under the guise of parity.
Ducky – your plan for the Yankees to get even older is flawed. I guess Yankee fans’ hope is one run, because signing older it’s is very short term. Hope your happy with WC round exits at best every year.
So many curse words right now!!! I was hoping they’d keep Allen.
I never understood why they chose to go with Jonathan Davis instead of this guy. Allen played very well when they gave him the opportunity.
48 PAs with the Yanks shouldn’t change the outlook on a player with over 600 career PAs.
Because it would have made cashman look really clever.
The Pirates opening day CF (LF if they keep Reynolds in CF)
That’s too bad I was hoping Allen would replace Gardy as 4th outfielder
He didn’t strike out enough.
The Yankees have a higher opinion of Florial than Allen, and he certainly has an better upside. Yankees lose Velasquez, Locastro, and Allen in one day. Hard to figure out if they are going big at SS or CF or both?
Oh damn, good for the Pirates! Could be a diamond in the rough. You don’t know what you have if you don’t let it sink or swim..
Looks like some insurance in case they don’t sign Yoshi Tsutugo back.
By insurance, I mean likely replacement.
Not a bad move IMO at any rate.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Pirate’s booty
Nice move! Much better then a rule 5 pickup! They got a decent player for nothing!
Yankee fans really liked Allen and wanted to see him get a longer shot. He reminds me of the guy the Yankees grabbed a few years ago who performed well briefly and is now very forgotten. Not Tauchman … The other guy who I think went to the Tigers???
Allen too will likely be forgotten soon but I hope he plays well for the pirates.