The Pirates announced this evening they’ve designated first baseman Colin Moran for assignment. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for Yoshi Tsutsugo, whose previously-reported one-year deal has been made official.
Moran’s spot on the roster looked tenuous once Pittsburgh agreed to terms with Tsutsugo. General manager Ben Cherington has already indicated the club viewed Tsutsugo primarily as a first baseman. While Moran broke in as a third baseman, he’s played almost exclusively first over the past two years — particularly since the Bucs broke in highly-touted youngster Ke’Bryan Hayes at the hot corner late in 2020. There wouldn’t seem to be room on the roster for two left-handed hitting first basemen. Even if the National League adopts a designated hitter in 2022, teams have generally preferred to cycle multiple players through that position unless they have an elite bat to plug in at DH everyday.
Moran’s a capable hitter, but he’s not a middle-of-the-order presence. He’s coming off a .258/.334/.390 showing across 359 plate appearances. That’s roughly league average production, right in line with Moran’s overall numbers. He’s a career .267/.329/.418 hitter in parts of six seasons — the past four of which have come as a regular in Pittsburgh.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Moran for an arbitration salary in the $4MM range. Today’s designation functions as something of an early non-tender, although it’s possible another club swings a trade before tomorrow’s non-tender deadline. If Moran passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll have the right to elect minor league free agency.
Great target for Cubs.
Since they’re in full tank mode, I would tend to agree.
Cubs have Frank Schwindel and Patrick Wisdom. Hard pass on Pirates trash.
Could use a lefty
Schwindel and Wisdom. LOL
Would you be all that surprised if Schwindel and/or Wisdom are in the same exact situation next offseason as Moran is right now? Neither of those guys are prove and they have never played a successful full season.
While they are most definitely worth a look, they are by no means locks for next year. I like Schwindel more than Wisdom, but I don’t like either all that much. Wisdom’s OBP is terrible and he would strikeout well over 200x in a full season. He is a stopgap, much like Moran would be, but I would bet on Moran having a better season than Wisdom next year.
Those of us who follow Pirates trash take offense to that.
If he’s trash, send him over to the Astro’s, they got the cans to hold him
Am I mistaken or didn’t he absolutely rake at Wrigley?
He hit .966 OPS at Wrigley so if he can be had cheaply he may be a backup for the Schwindy City.
Hey getright11 – if Pirate players are trash, why are they scattered all over mlb? Hopefully Moran signs with a good team, not the Cubs.
He’s a decent platoon bat vs RHs 113 wRC+ last year.
I dunno. It seems like Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins are in a deep winter hibernation. Some decent players are off the board who could have helped the team be at least competitive and somewhat watchable.
Would be nice to see the Cubs act like the Rangers and Tigers seem to do every other offseason. No idea what ownership’s fascination is with acting like a small market team in a big market town.
Pirates ridding themselves of their UNC boys today. Sad to see.
why? can’t afford his salary?
No. He sucks and is blocked at any position he tries to play
Because $4 million in arbitration for a guy with a 1.0 fWAR in 4 seaosns and 444 MLB games isn’t worth it.
@mlb1225. Everyone should have seen this coming. Moran can’t hit or field like a corner infielder. He was a placeholder, that’s it. I feel like this Moran conversation happens every off-season, and I cannot believe that even now people think its the pirates being cheap and not just Moran being dump.
Yeah, I like Moran and was hoping his power stroke in 2020 wasn’t just a fluke. In his defense, he did have a really hot start to 2021 but that injury seemed to significantly slow him down. He pretty much is what he is at this point. I could see him being a solid bench bat somewhere. If he faced righties like 95% of the time, he’d be a solid .270/.350/.430 hitter. But vs RHP only is pretty much all he is.
A 780 ops for a 1b only is a bit sad. As a bench bat though what does he offer besides a decent line vs righties? He doesn’t have the overwhelming bat to justify his being on the grass, and he doesn’t have the glove to justify his “okay” slash line.
Not being combative, I just think Moran was a wait until he’s too expensive player for the pirates. They knew he wasn’t a valuable trade chip but he was a valuable placeholder.
Yeah, and that’s only facing RHP. Like I said, he’s best suited for RHP only duties. Serviceable as a guy off the pine, but that’s about it.
I get that his slash lines makes him suitable for rhp duties, but is he really worth a roster spot? Imo he’s not.
For league minimum or maybe $1 mil? Yes. For anything else he’s a wasted bench spot. No defense, poor base running, prototypically average slash.
@mlb1225 how are you feeling about the Tsutsugo signing? I don’t think he will produce that much, but I do like the pirates finally signing a Japanese player after Kuwata.
Edit:I forgot takahashi
Was thinking he’d be on the outs considering the subpar production and rising salary at a position (1B) where the expectation for offensive performance is so high. Still, a former first-round pick lauded for his all-around hitting approach; some team could try to change his approach and have some success as a corner INF utility bat.
Seems like the type to go over seas and be a bopper there
He’s more of a well-rounded hitter than most who fit that profile and go overseas, IMO. Those guys are usually power-first, or power-only, hitters.
I find it so hard to believe Cherington couldn’t find a take on Brault or Moran
DFA’ing a player starts the transaction process; it doesn’t end it. Remember when the Rays mind-boggingly DFA’d Corey Dickerson a couple years ago coming off his all-star season, and it was only to expedite the trading of him? Puts a timer on things.
Brault maybe because he could be a #5 lefty starter, but definitley not on Moran. Moran has been about a league average hitter since arriving in Pittsburgh, but is an extremely bad defender at third base and below average defender at first base. He has a 1.0 fWAR since arriving to the Pirates in 2018. Most teams probably have a Triple-A first baseman who hit well last season they’d give a shot over before Moran, and I can understand why.
It’s not like BC isn’t willing to trade or teams aren’t aware they are available. If they weren’t or aren’t traded it’s because nobody wants to give anything for them and for good reason. No team should want to give anything for these guys besides a minor league contract or at best a couple million.
Whoa!!!! Super surprising!!! No way he doesn’t get picked up by another team. I know he was hurt last year but he’s really turned the page in recent years offensively
He’ll find a home, on a minors deal
He hits well enough for every position except the one he can somewhat play.
For a guy with a league average bat, he must play some truly awful defence to be a below replacement level player. Would be a nice bench option if he were passable with the glove.
They called him column Morin here in Pittsburgh. He had no range at third base which along with the arrival of Hayes got him moved to first. Everything he does is in slow motion. Applies a tag super slow, runs extremely slow. It appears he even thinks slow. It’s methodical. Seams like nice enough guy but his bat can’t support his lack of defense and defensive versatility. He’s basically a DH that is a below average hitter.
First off, not disagreeing with what you wrote. I always find it funny though that when listing a whole string of negatives about someone people will almost always include something about them being “a nice guy”.
It’s almost like starting a sentence with the words, “with all due respect “. You know the next words will not be complimentary.
You’re being a bit harsh on Colin. They’re going to miss his spark in the dugout and the clubhouse……ummm, nevermind.
I can see the Blue Jays taking a chance on him. I hope they’re aiming higher for 3B, but Moran could be a decent bench piece.
You don’t want him playing third except in emergencies.
The bat hasn’t played at DH or 1b. Still possible. He has a solid glove and arm but range is terrible. Takes 3 doubles for him to score a run.
trade him to Miami for Alfaro
Why should either team do that when both will be available via non-tender or release?
Because with a non tender or release you have to compete with 28 other teams for his services. With a trade, you don’t.
Totally agree, why not
Miami realized years ago he wasn’t anything special.
Funny thing about that. The Marlins moved him shortly after they fired Larry Beinfest…who was the front office leader that drafted Moran.
I’m still waiting for the Reynolds blockbuster trade…
You call yourself a pirate fan ..that’s a joke.. Reynolds isnt going to be traded now or in the near future…your just a pirate hater…crawl back under the couch
Why?
Tbh unless he’s signed to an extension, which I don’t think happens because he’d have to agree to it and I don’t see him wanting to stay in Pittsburgh, I think trading him makes sense.
Why? Because by the time they actually are ready to compete, he will be gone or have one year left.
I am hoping for it but not sure a team is going to meet the price.
Brian Cashman is salivating at the idea of this minimal cost dumpster dive. Only thing Cashman would like more is if Moran was a sub-Mendoza line hitter with a 40% K rate.
More likely to sign him just to make him shave.
Your crying about the Yankees being cheap? You gotta be kidding. The YANKEES… cheap…lol
Naw. It’s just typical Yankees fan banter. There could be a story here about a hot dog vendor in Kansas City and somehow, they’d find a way to insert their team in the conversation
Dumping salary like crazy. Payroll will be lower and will probably get no.1 pick this time .
Nah dumping salary would be DFA Moran without signing Yoshi. Most fans would love to see Martin out there.
This is actually a smart move. A good GM could do better with 4 million then Moran.
Good point
This made complete sense unlike the stallings trade which I hate. Tsutugo has more pop in the bat and is much better against lefties. He will have more value at the deadline if he can start off good. Moran obviously had no value ever, or he would have been gone already. The money was equal, so it makes sense to give tsutugo a longer chance on a team that’s not good anyways, especially since 1B/DH is a more appropriate spot for him.
I could see the Red Sox putting in a claim to platoon with Dalbec until we find a real 1B solution
Not sold on Casas?
Not in 2022, at least the early part of it
I might pick up Moran to play 1B for my Padres. Could be better than Hosmer.
…..and you’d be sorry. Moran makes Adam Frazier a dugout cheerleader in comparison, and they already have Tatis Jr.
Moran really doesn’t have a role outside of solid bench bat vs RHP. He’s pretty much unplayable vs lefties and is an extremely poor defender at the infield corners. I will say he did have a good start to 2021 before getting injured which seemed to slow him down significantly, but aside from his short 2020 and the first month of 2021, he really hasn’t been anything better than a league average hitter.
You have repeated yourself several times. You must really not like the guy.
Very expendable since Yoshi Tsutugo is back.
Moran …. A future Guardian
Brewers…need 3rd and 1st. Bj Surhoff legacy
Honestly don’t even see where he would have a real spot. Lefty that can’t hit more than a single and isnt even a good fielder at 1B. He should be more like AAA depth or something in all reality. Maybe a place holder type on a different team that sucks, no good team should have any use for him.
Hope he goes to the AL. He kills the Cards
He was in my DK lineup every time they played the Cubs.
Wasn’t he the top prospect included in the Astros trade for Cole? Dang.
Musgrove was the main target but he, Michael Feliz, Jason Martin and now Moran are all gone. David Bednar, Hudson Head, Endy Rodriguez and Omar Cruz (the return from trading Musgrove to San Diego) have a lot of work to do to salvage the Gerrit Cole trade. Bonus points for those keeping score at home and noticed I’m not expecting anything out of Drake Fellows. Great name though.
The left handed side of 1B platoon for the Yankees (i joke but i can also see Bloom taking a flier)
Along with sending Stallings to Miami, the Pirates are now a much faster team.
Depends what catcher they bring in. Good chance it is a 30 something clogger.
He wouldn’t be bad as a backup 1B and 3B for the Cardinals when Goldy and Arenado need a day off here and there!!
Let’s see now…Tucker, Newman, Park, Chavis…which one of these middle infielders get to DH? Unless the Bucs plan on bringing in an old power hitter, I guess Cruz could DH. Oh, that’s right. I forgot. This season doesn’t even matter. We could let Bednar DH.
A good signing for an NPB/KBO team.
Seems insane to me this guy couldn’t be dealt. Also his MLB numbers are much better than Tsutsugo’s. This sort of explains why the Pirates… are the Pirates
I guess his estimated $4 mil arb salary was too much.
I seriously doubt anyone is claiming him on waivers. To then paying him 4+ million and give a 40 man roster spot. The best he’s going to do in free agency is a minor league invite to spring training and a veteran minimum salary so yeah 4 million was too much. Not only for the Pirates but more than likely all of MLB.
Seems like some of the rich teams, for whom $4 mil is chump change, might find his career stats vs. RHP intriguing.
Moran career vs. RHP: .280/.341/.440
Moran 2021 vs. RHP: .288/.352/.432
Feels like a platoon partner somewhere. I thought it would be for the Pirates at DH. I guess they can find someone to DH for league minimum.
Yeah, Moran is everything folks here have written, but he was made expendable by a guy who has shown literally nothing other than the last couple of months of 2021. Unless they see him as a pathway toward getting Suzuki here, that’s kind of jumping the gun a bit
Agreed @ tired… Let’s hope the Bucs find a DH with better than .280/.341/.440 Career vs RHP
Captain Obvious look-alike.
Hey Brewers dump Vogelbach (who I like) and Huira (who Stinks) get Moran and keep Rowdy…