The Pirates announced today that they have selected the contract of infielder Drew Maggi following the placement of outfielder Bryan Reynolds on the bereavement list. To clear space on the 40-man roster, first baseman Ji Man Choi was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Reynolds has been off to a hot start this season, slashing .294/.319/.553 (125 wRC+) in 22 games this season amid rumors of extension negotiations that have spilled into the season. All that will be put on hold, of course, while Reynolds is away from the team. Players on the bereavement list can miss a minimum of three games and a maximum of seven games, meaning Reynolds can return at the earliest against the Dodgers on April 27 and at the latest against the Rays on May 2.
Choi’s transfer to the 60-day IL comes as little surprise after the Pirates announced that the first baseman would miss about two months with a strained Achilles tendon. Choi, 32 in May, struggled to open his Pirates career prior to the injury, slashing just .125/.125/.344 (16 wRC+) in nine games with 15 strikeouts in just 32 plate appearances. Prior to this season, Choi has long been a solid, consistent bat at the big league level, with a career 114 wRC+ and a 120 wRC+ as a member of the Rays from 2018-2022. Choi was acquired from the Rays by the Pirates ahead of the non-tender deadline this past November in exchange for right-hander Jack Hartman.
Maggi, 34 next month, is a journeyman who has yet to make his major league debut. Drafted by the Pirates in the fifteenth round of the 2010 draft, Maggi has since played in thirteen seasons in the minors for six different organizations, with a .254/.355/.378 slash line in 494 games at the Triple-A level. Maggi has experience at all four infield spots, both outfield corners, and has even pitched two innings during his minor league career. That Maggi is now set to get a big league opportunity after over a decade in the minors is certainly a heartwarming moment, and the Pirates shared a video of him receiving the news this morning.
LETS GO BUCCOS
So which one was Drew: gold, frankincense or myrrh?
Don’t get incensed.
You’re a wise man.
https://twitter.com/AltoonaCurve/status/1650151388813447168
When Drew found out that he’s getting called up !!!!
Very cool moment. The manager is Callix Crabbe, who got into 21 games with the 2008 Padres and bounced around the minors for many years himself before getting there, so you know he was enjoying this as well.
Thanks Monkey.I was impressed with the manager’s speech and take on the situation,
This is dfa waiting to happen. Dude was hitting .194 in AAA. May be a courtesy call up before the guy hangs ‘em up.
It’s not exactly like Castro is lighting the offense on fire and having an additional infielder was necessary in my opinion
And your comment isn’t what this franchise is about, Redstitch108
They need someone who can give Hayes a break as well
Yep. He will be DFA the second they see someone they want on waivers.
he’ll be released once Reynolds returns if anything
At any rate, he doesn’t factor into anything after these couple games. Just a cool story.
He will have 3 options left. Where’s your call up to the big leagues?
Yeah but if he gets into a game, he will be a major leaguer forever. And he gets some perks from MLBPA as well as about $4000 a game for sitting on the bench, and meal money.
It’s definitely a courtesy. Looking at his stats in minors he once had decent speed but time took its toll. Does not hit for power or contact. But congratulations to him for not giving up and hopefully he gets to see some game time at MLB level.
He is also easy to outright back to Altoona.
@heff. I had to look that up. Guy is nearly 34 years old and he looked very surprised to get the call. Hard not to pull for a guy who has put in the work for almost a dozen years. Hopefully he gets to make a appearance in a game.
Give the guy one AB and I hope he gets to field at least an inning. Good for him and his family.
Looked good in spring training, seemed to be a tough out and hit the ball hard almost every time. Good for him. Perseverance pays off
Why Maggi? Dariel Lopez or Malcom Nunez seem to be better options to platoon at 1B with Santana. Maggi is 34 years old and first time ever making it to the majors. I know Reynolds will be back within a week, but Choi on a 60 day, having Lopez or Nunez makes sense
They want the flexibility of the open spot still. Surprisingly enough, they finally can fill out a whole roster.
They know they can DFA and retain Maggi once the 40 man roster spot is needed again. There would be a risk of losing one of those other players.
Fan-Why Maggi?Because it a feel good story that all people oriented organizations do when possible.
Good for him.I hope that he gets into a game and gets a hit.
It will be a memory of a lifetime and good for the Pirates to do it.
Mondoza Line, I respect your opinions and hardly disagree with you. But I get what you’re saying but, upon injury to Santana, who do they move to 1B? Having Nunez or Lopez there, eases the bleeding
They are clearly doing this as a courtesy and he will be sent back down after Wednesday’s game..
Connor Joe can evidently play first base and he is the backup.
Pirate minor leaguers are not doing well across the board and it seems that they are only promoted if justified based on their performance.
Dariel Lopez is out for the season (dislocated knee before the season started). Malcolm Nunez isn’t hitting, so he’s not worth a call. Connor Joe is a good defensive first baseman and can handle backup duties (plus it will get him more at-bats).
I wouldn’t even send Maggi down when Reynolds comes back, I’d send CSN back to AAA so he can get regular at-bats. Then, call up a prospect that is deserving in a week or two and send Maggi back down. Pirates barely use their last bench player, so having Maggi, who is a good defender all over the field, in that spot isn’t a big deal.
Andujar is hitting.274 with 2 homers at Indy. CSN needs to be sent back to Indy and Andujar could be a replacement, as he has played 3rd and first base along with the outfield
Buc-What you propose is a combination of the separate things that I thought would happen.It is a good idea.
I am dismayed though that the minor leaguers have not improved and in some ways digressed,Andujar could be recalled and Burrows placed on the 60 day IL but it seems that the Pirates overvalue having CSN as a left handed hitter on the team.It does no one any good to have him sit.
Andujar would be a second Joe in essence.
They could also play Marcano in the outfield instead of CSN as I think that he deserves a shot at more regular playing time.
Any word on how Swaggerty and Gonzalez are doing? How about Priester, Endy or Davis? Would be nice to know how the next wave is faring
Corn- Once or twice a week I google the Indianapolis Indians stats and check on the AAA players of note.
None of these guys now are getting stats to warrant promotion.Ortiz seems to be pitching fairly well but he does not pitch more than four innings.
Once a quality start gets to three innings and two runs you and I go to the next open audition for pitchers and claim age discrimination if they do not sign us.
There’s really no need to promote anyone right now, is there? Your news just makes it more apparent that the next wave needs the time on the farm, I guess
No.They will give it a couple of weeks to see if anyone gets hot in AAA or gets hurt on the Pirates.
Gonzales is hitting decent, but still striking out too much. He also recently missed a couple of games with a hand injury.
Swaggerty is on the IL with an illness. I think if he comes back and just hits decently he’s worth a callup to be a bench player because of his defense.
Priester struggled in his first start, but has been really good since. He needs at least half a season in AAA as he’s still very young and working on secondary pitches.
Endy is unfortunately injured right now. I haven’t seen how seriously, but he was in Pittsburgh for an evaluation yesterday.
Davis is absolutely RAKING in AA and is overmatching pitching at that level. In all seriousness he could be the first one up out of the guys you named. His bat is definitely MLB ready, but defense probably isn’t. You could give Cutch more playing time in RF and DH Davis though, his power would be a big addition to the lineup.
Buc-Let’s give Davis another month in AA,then if he is still hitting with power,move him to AAA and let him split the DH and catching duties with Endy.
Wake up Maggi, the Pirates have somethin’ to say to you
Well done.
It’s late April and you really should be back in school.
The morning sun, when it’s in Maggi’s face, really shows his age.
He was solid during Spring Training and if it wasn’t for a roster crunch, probably would have made it.
Regardless it was great watching the video, the speech, and the reaction.
Smith-Nijiba was solid in ST too and has been horrible during the regular season so far
CSN is clearly not ready for the ML’s and should be optioned out to get him some playing time.
The problem is no one in the minor leagues is a clear option to be promoted.
I wish Castro could be demoted, he strikes out at an alarming rate this year and he gets regular play time
Andujar is available, and should be switched out with Nijiba
And with no one on, why isn’t Bae bunting for a hit?
Perhaps because Bae isn’t good at bunting? Not many players are anymore.
It’s worth a shot since he can’t garner any hits swinging the bat lately
You are right Smith-Nijiba and Maggi are the same person. Just like Hanna Montana. Notice how they never show them on camera at the same time. Just because one player isn’t having a good start means it has to stay that way or is reflective of another person.
Bob Nutting is underrated.
Nutting had about as much to do with this call up as you did
He had absolutely Nutting to do about it?
A rare class move by the pirates. He’s only going to be here a few days. They had an extra spot because of Choi. Look at it as reynolds being out day to day with an injury and the bench being one short. Hopefully they can unleash the bats and he gets some mop up duty. 0 chance of starting unless shelty gets really plastered before a game.
Nutting is against starting the proverbial clock on players for their eventual arbitration
With Maggi being 34, his arbitration possibilities are slim to none
His arbitration possibility would be slim to none even if he were 28. It’s pretty evident he’ll be there for 3-7 days and get optioned back down unless he does something otherworldly and they decide to ride the wave until he inevitably cools off.
I’m happy for the guy and I hope he performs well but I doubt he sticks long enough to even accrue even 1/500 worth of the service time needed to reach arbitration.
Look up sarcasm in the dictionary when you get a chance
Wonder if they’ll lock him up into his free agency years?
I wasn’t talking about Maggi and arbitration
Geez learn reading comprehension
I believe that being on an MLB active roster for 1 day allows a player to have MLBPAs health insurance for life. I’m not sure there’s a ton of other ‘benefits’ other than actually being on an MLB roster — which for most these guys is all they want — for any period of time, albeit brief.
Bully for this guy. He’s probably back down (or waived) after a few other moves. But’s an Major Leaguer now.
There is no “life benefit” insurance plan for retired ML players. You can stay on their program, but you will have to pay for it.
But for a minor league grinder, knowing that he can buy into what is probably an excellent health care plan gives him a lot more post-playing career options. Especially on the entrepreneur side.
He was called up by the Twins a few years ago but never appeared in a game with
Living the dream.
He’s unlikely to win the MVP even though he’ll give a full effort.
This team is soooo likeable. Being a Pirates fan is fun again.
Watching the game and they just said reynolds is going to be back Tuesday most likely. This is going to be his only game in all likelihood.
If on the bereavement list, a player must miss a minimum of 3 games, not 3 days. So Reynolds might be back with the team on Tuesday but he can’t be activated then.
good video. make the most of it Drew. I’m rooting for you
Bob Nutting has around 1.3 billion reasons to move the Pirates to a new city if Pittsburgh doesn’t build a new stadium for him.
Why replace the most beautiful park in baseball?
???
Ace , apparently you live in a cave
PNC Park is annually rated one of the most beautiful parks in baseball
You’re all over MLBTR today with this nonsense, Ace. I guess you’re done with your math homework
what the heck are you talking about? pirates are locked in Pittsburgh until ’31. Even if.. the Nuttings are from the area.. Unless they move the team to West Virginia or Forest County PA I think it is safe to say. it isn’t moving with the Nutting family as the majority owners. There are no indications the Nuttings will be selling.
Check virtually any thread here today, Joe, and you’ll find Ace, with similar prose. Guess it’s better than lighting dog poop on fire, leaving it at your door, ringing the doorbell and running away
Kids. Oy.
Good for him.
Reds fan here..just wanted to say how impressed I am with the Pirates. You folks in Pittsburgh have a very good team. Good luck the rest of the way!
Bob-Not a lot of difference between the two teams.The chips fell for the Pirates in this series.
The Pirates are not exactly the 1927 Yankees but I think that the Reds have pretty quickly put together a pretty good young pitching staff.I was glad that the Pirates did not see Lodolo again.I think that the Reds’ hitters have promise too.
In other words I think that both teams have started their ways up from the bottom.
And us long time Bucco fans appreciate classy posters from small market teams which is what you clearly are.
Hope he gets at least one AB
he can’t be any worse than Castro