The Pirates have placed veteran infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on outright waivers, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. He’ll be available to all 29 other clubs, with waiver priority determined based on the reverse order of the MLB-wide standings. (Outright waiver priority is not league-specific like the now-defunct revocable August trade waivers were.)
Because he has not been designated for assignment, Kiner-Falefa can continue to play while on waivers. If another team claims him, which seems plausible, he’d be postseason-eligible because he’d join that club before Sept. 1. (Waivers are a 48-hour process.) He’s being paid $7.5MM this season, with about $1.21MM of that sum yet to be paid out.
The Pirates do not have to assign him outright to a minor league affiliate if he goes unclaimed. They could do so if they choose, but Kiner-Falefa would have the right to then elect free agency and retain the remainder of his guaranteed money. They could also opt to simply release Kiner-Falefa if he goes unclaimed, as the Guardians did with veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, which would give him one more chance to jump into a playoff hunt between now and season’s end.
In 419 plate appearances, Kiner-Falefa is batting .268/.304/.337. It’s a light batting line (78 wRC+), but he’s gone 15-for-19 in stolen base attempts and played a respectable shortstop this season. Kiner-Falefa is a versatile defender with experience at short, second base, third base and all three outfield spots.
The Pirates somewhat surprisingly didn’t trade Kiner-Falefa at the deadline. Presumably, his middling offensive contributions didn’t garner strong interest. However, as teams gear up for the stretch run and look to deepen their benches, Kiner-Falefa’s brand of speed, contact (15.5% strikeout rate) and defensive versatility could hold appeal. He’s struggling quite a bit against lefties this year, despite being a right-handed bat, but he entered the season with more or less neutral platoon splits in his career.
For the Bucs, the waiver route presents an opportunity to trim some payroll and to afford a veteran player the opportunity to join a postseason chase in the season’s final month. By waiting until the end of the month to make the move, they made it as affordable as possible for teams with interest in claiming him. Kiner-Falefa’s contract does contain $250K bonuses for reaching 500 and 550 plate appearances, but he’s 81 shy of that mark right now thanks largely to a monthlong stay on the IL for a hamstring strain back in April/May.
If another club claims Kiner-Falefa, it’d open more at-bats for younger infield options. There’s no way the Bucs would call up 19-year-old Konnor Griffin, currently ranked as MLB’s top prospect, when he has just eight games above A-ball to his credit right now, but they could give some reps to former trade acquisitions like Nick Yorke or Cam Devanney in the season’s final month.
Why not didn’t Yankees try and get IKF in the Bednar deal. I guess they asked for Jones and Lombard.
Well the Yankees can get him now for free if they want him.
They already have a utility guy that can hit in Amed Rosario
Claim IKF off waivers, keep Rosario, option Volpe to Scranton. Could give the Yankees the jump-start they need to catch Toronto.
Yankees fans hate IKF because he had a down year with them in 2023. Yankees fans never forgive that.
And Yankee fans hate Volpe more since he leads the American League in errors.
Thank goodness GMBC didn’t trade him at the deadline.
It takes two to tango. A team may want to trade someone off their roster but there has to be another team willing to take the player at a reasonable price/cost.
There was buzz about multiple teams being interested. Settling for nothing doesn’t prove any points worth making.
Even though IKF has been horrible with the bat since the start of June, I find it hard to believe there was next to no interest in him at the deadline. He is playable at shortstop, and is a good defensive 3B and 2B. He also consistently provides good value on the basepaths. I’, sure no team was looking at him as a fulltime replacement at SS/2B/3B, but there are far worse part-time infield utility guys out there, and there are also definitley teams who could use him off their bench down the stretch. Even if the only things the Pirates got was the Adam Frazier trade (a complete lottery ticket prospect), it’s better than nothing.
Again nobody wanted him
The Giants and Yankees expressed interest in him prior to the deadline. I’d be very shocked if no other teams didn’t show any interest we didn’t hear about, even if it was just kicking the tires, or making the call to check the pricetag. IKF wasn’t some highly sought after player, but there’s no way that no team that thought about contending at the deadline didn’t see him as a possible upgrade on their bench.
For once, the Pirates kinda made the right move here.
Based on the assumption that they were not offered enough in trade to make it worth their while…letting other teams know they actually have to pay a price by not trading him for nothing while still doing right by the player is solid.
This was absolutely the wrong move. They could have got something back in trade for hom in July. Instead they will get nothing for him. And they had to pay him for the month of August too.
Getting something is not always better than getting nothing. If you like all your current minor league players better than the guy offered for him, then it is better not to trade. Just getting a name on a page does nothing if you don’t have a real place for him to develop.
Nice theory, but not a realistic one. No organization likes all of their minor leaguers. The majority of minor leaguers are not future major leaguers. They are simply there to be used as roster filler, and to provide a framework/infrastructure in which the real prospects can learn and grow. Even at double-A, only 1 out of 3 players who reach that level will ever make it to the majors. And many of those will not stick or have full careers there. For single-A, that number is 1 out of 6.
Getting something is always better than getting nothing. Seriously dude. And its not just the return in trade they could have saved themselves some money and spent that money in 2054 when they plan on contending again.
I didn’t say they had to like all of their minor leaguers. I said they just had to like their current options BETTER than the guy being offered. Or at the very least they might not see the offer as better than their current options. With the fewer minor league teams, there are fewer spots available now than in the past.
Seems like a catch 22. Either IKF ends up on a contender (the outcome suggested by the Pirates doing right by him) for nothing, which hardly teaches other teams a lesson about meeting their asking price at the deadline. Or he gets picked off waivers by a non-contender higher on the waiver priority list.
It depends. If there were multiple teams wanting him, only one will get him. It will teach the others to pony up and get him if they want him.
The Brewers look like the team that could use him at SS the most. His versatility might prevent him from reaching there on the waiver wire though.
Ortiz is due back soon. He’s a much better defensive SS and is developing into a decent offensive player, as well.
Plus the team with the best record in baseball would be last in line to claim him.
Is he due a performance bonus Bob Nutting doesn’t want to pay?
Ha!
Is it just me or are the pirates the only team that (routinely) releases a player so they don’t make more money
Most teams want their players to reach the bonus because it’s the right thing to do but not the pirates
looking at all the playoff contenders i don’t see an obvious landing spot but if he must be placed somewhere i would agree brewers may be it for his speed and versatility
Tigers.
Plus, the Brewers manager seeks those type of players. Scrappy, risk takers, hit to all fields, etc. I believe he will end up with the Brewers.
Ortiz back soon and Monastario has been a decent backup. (IKF would be better than Seigler, however…he’s most likely to be sent down when Hoskins returns soon.)
He will still be on the roster unless someone claims him, which would not surprise me.
At least by doing this now he has a chance to catch on with a playoff contender and still be eligible for the playoffs.
I’ll at least give BC the credit for trying to give him a chance to win
Trimming payroll is more important to Cherington than wanting IKF to play for a contender
Won’t disagree but be could have done like he did with tellez last year. Or even waited till next week. I’ll never argue that BC isn’t looking to save money.
The Reds could use him at second base. McClain isn’t doing so well
Lux seems a better fit as a McLain replacement. He hits better.
Completely agree. Reds would be fools not to claim him if he’s still available in the pecking order.
This team does some strange things! All the vets should of been traded!?
Don’t you think they tried to make trades for pham,kiner-falefa and heaney and others? How many times must you hear “nobody wanted them”.
I can see why no one wanted Heaney, but I highly doubt there was zero interest in Pham or IKF. Pham has been red hot since changing his eye perscription. He was batting .402 with a 204 wRC+ from the time of getting his new contacts, and the trade deadline. He has also been playing solid outfield defense all year. IKF is a solid glove at SS/2B/3B and would probably benefit a ton from a a part-time role, rather than playing fulltime. I’m not saying there were teams busting down the door for any of them, just that worse players are dealt every deadline, and that no one saw either IKF or Pham as decent bench pieces.
For who we got in return in the Bednar, Frazier, Ferguson and Falter trades, I am glad Cherington didn’t try to trade veterans
Low A or a couple of never will be’s
Every non-contender should look to move almost any non-2026 players. BC just blew it.
Probably one of the highest batting averages on the Pirates.
For those that think getting nothing is better than a lottery ticket RP, I don’t understand. I think BC just overplayed his hand. Much like the WS with Robert. PT would’ve saved money, gotten a look at Yorke, picked up someone that might’ve someday made the BP and saved some money. Bad move imo.
The most frustrating part of not trading IKF was not opening a door for some of their minor leaguers. Yorke is one of them, but Cam Devanney as well. Even if the player they get back from a IKF deal amounts to nothing, you at least give another player a chance.
If IKF is moved, I could see PIT giving Kriedler a look at SS, before they have to make a roster decision on him in the off season.
This guy is so underrated. Don’t let myopic Yankee fans dominate the narrative on him. This is a plus player. Hits well and plays plus defense.
Brewers! Get him! IKF is at least as good as Joey Ortiz
Rangers have probably lost Seager for the rest of the season so there’s a possibility. Tigers couid probably use him as well.
While it’s doing the right thing by IKF by giving him the chance to play in the postseason, the Bucs couldn’t even get international slot money for him at the deadline?
That’s what I’m saying. They were able to get that for Jarrod Dyson in 2020, and Austin Hedges in 2023.