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Pirates Acquire Duane Underwood, Designate Carson Fulmer

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The Pirates announced the acquisition of reliever Duane Underwood Jr. from the Cubs. First base prospect Shendrik Apostel will go to Chicago in return. To create 40-man roster space, Pittsburgh designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment.

Underwood, 26, has thrown 36.1 innings out of the Chicago bullpen over the past three seasons. His 5.20 ERA isn’t particularly impressive, but Underwood has shown some promising peripherals. The right-hander has struck out an impressive 27.7% of hitters at the MLB level against a solid 7.7% walk rate. He was at his best last season, racking up strikeouts at a 30.7% clip while walking only 6.8% of batters. The right-hander averages just under 95 MPH on his fastball and also features a curveball and changeup, the latter of which has gotten plenty of whiffs in limited major league action.

Nevertheless, the Cubs designated Underwood for assignment earlier in the week. He never managed to stake a claim to a permanent spot in the Chicago bullpen, thanks largely to persistent trouble keeping the ball in the yard. Underwood is also out of options, meaning he can’t be sent to the minor leagues without being exposed to other teams. That’s less a concern for the rebuilding Pirates than it was for the playoff-hopeful Cubs.

Acquiring Underwood bumps Fulmer from the Pittsburgh roster for the second time in six months. The former eighth overall pick has been claimed off waivers by the Tigers, Pirates (twice) and Orioles going back to last July but hasn’t found a permanent home. Teams clearly remain intrigued by his promise, though. Fulmer has just a 6.34 ERA with poor strikeout (18.9%) and walk (13.9%) numbers over 105 MLB innings. Like Underwood, he is out of options. Any acquiring team must therefore keep him on the active roster or else again offer him to other clubs.

In exchange for Underwood, the Cubs pick up Apostel, a 20-year-old first baseman who signed with the Pirates out of Curacao. He had a .252/.381/.463 line in the Dominican Summer League between 2018-19. His older brother Sherten Apostel also originally signed with the Pirates and made his MLB debut last season with the Rangers.

Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

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The Pirates ramped up their rebuilding efforts by trading away several key players without adding much in the way of Major League reinforcements.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Ben Cherington’s first year at the helm of the Pirates didn’t result in the aggressive tear-down that many anticipated, although that was in part due to injuries. Chris Archer’s thoracic outlet surgery and a series of health setbacks for Keone Kela took away a pair of obvious chips prior to last summer’s trade deadline.

This offseason, Cherington and his staff got to work on what has long felt like an inevitable tear-down of the previous regime’s roster. Gone are Josh Bell, Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon, each traded away for a package of multiple young players — nearly all of whom are several years away from contributing at the Major League level.

Right-hander Wil Crowe is perhaps the lone exception, and he could join the Pirates’ big league roster early in the 2021 season. Crowe doesn’t have huge upside, but he could slot into the back of a Pirates rotation that is in a transitional state after losing Musgrove, Taillon and righty Trevor Williams, who was non-tendered back in December. (Williams went on to sign elsewhere in the division, landing a one-year deal with the Cubs.)

Broadly speaking, the trades of Bell, Musgrove and Taillon are hardly unexpected. The Pirates were baseball’s worst team in 2020 and will be among the worst in 2021 as well. All three members of that trio have just two years of club control remaining, meaning none of them were likely to contribute to the Pirates’ next competitive club.

Still, there’s an argument that the Bucs would’ve been better off holding off on making any deals until this summer. Bell is coming off a miserable .226/.305/.364 showing through 57 games last season. The switch-hitting slugger’s batted-ball profile was encouraging, but his strikeout rate spiked during last year’s abbreviated season. With a big first half, it’s feasible that Bell might’ve been more in demand than he was over the winter, when few clubs were looking for everyday options at first base and/or designated hitter.

Taillon, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched since the 2019 season due to Tommy John surgery. It was the second such procedure of his career, and he has a fairly lengthy track record of injuries, so perhaps the Pirates didn’t want to risk any further setbacks. One would imagine that had Taillon demonstrated his health and looked effective in Spring Training and early in the season, however, that the Pirates might have been able to fetch a larger return. Musgrove also dealt with injuries in 2020, although he came back and finished the year with his most impressive work of the season.

None of that is intended to pan the returns the Pirates received in those deals. Seven of Pittsburgh’s Top 30 prospects at Baseball America were acquired in those trades, with another two coming via last winter’s Starling Marte swap. Any rebuilding team is faced with trying to find the right balance between trading a player at peak value and hanging onto him too long; the Pirates were burned, to an extent, by hanging onto Kela and Archer, ultimately receiving nothing in return for either player. They took a more risk-averse approach by moving Bell, Taillon and Musgrove now rather than marketing them midseason, but they also ensured themselves a respectable return on each of the three.

That said, it’s also likely that the trades were financially motivated — particularly in the case of Bell, who avoided arbitration with the Nationals by signing a one-year, $6.35MM deal after the trade. Bell, Taillon ($2.55MM) and Musgrove ($4.45MM) will earn a combined $13.35MM in 2021. Williams, whom the club cut loose for nothing, was due a raise on his $2.825MM salary (and eventually signed at $2.5MM). The Bucs lopped more than $15MM off an already modest payroll and opted not to reinvest much into the 2021 roster. They’re currently set to open the year with a team payroll shy of $45MM, the lowest in baseball by a wide margin. (Cleveland is next lowest at about $53MM.)

Pittsburgh’s lone big league signing was a one-year, $2.5MM deal with lefty Tyler Anderson. The former Rockies first-rounder had an up-and-down tenure in Colorado and a decent showing with last year’s Giants, but was non-tendered by San Francisco in December. It’s a reasonable enough price point but a little puzzling as a rebuilding team’s standalone addition of the winter. Anderson has a fairly lengthy injury history, including a pair of knee surgeries. He hasn’t been a bankable source of innings and even at his best has been more of a fourth starter.

In a vacuum, the Anderson signing is perfectly reasonable, but it feels as though it’d be better for the Bucs if Anderson was one of several additions made with the intent of bolstering the rotation after losing three veterans this winter. That’s especially true given that the Pirates could trade either Steven Brault or Chad Kuhl at any point, further depleting their starting options.

As it stands, the Pirates will try to navigate the season with Brault, Kuhl, Anderson, Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker, Crowe, Miguel Yajure and Cody Ponce as their most immediate rotation options. Other internal options will surely arise, but particularly given the possibility of a Kuhl and/or Brault trade, the club could be thin on rotation depth. Non-roster invitees James Marvel, Clay Holmes and Chase De Jong could provide some cover, as could waiver claim Sean Poppen, but this looks like a club that could use another dependable arm or two just to help get through the year.

In the bullpen, the Bucs have some once-touted pitchers (Kyle Crick, Carson Fulmer, Michael Feliz, Chris Stratton) but there’s little in the way of certainty beyond de facto closer Richard Rodriguez. The 31-year-old is quietly among the game’s more effective relievers and should give them a solid option late in games — at least until this summer when Rodriguez is likely to be on the trade market alongside pretty much every other veteran on this roster.

On the position-player side of things, the Bucs picked up some catching depth by claiming Michael Perez from the Rays and inking longtime Rockies catcher Tony Wolters to a non-roster deal. Perez hasn’t hit much in limited big league time, but the 28-year-old has a solid Triple-A track record and gives them a lefty bat to pair with right-handed-hitting Jacob Stallings.

The trade of Bell opens up first base for Colin Moran, though he’ll likely be on the market this summer himself — particularly if he can sustain last year’s uptick in power. Second baseman Adam Frazier was discussed in trades this winter, even as recently as late January, so it’s possible he could still be moved prior to Opening Day. If not, he can expect to hear his name in trade rumors throughout the year.

On the other side of the diamond, former first-rounders Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker will vie for playing time at shortstop. Tucker’s outfield experiment appears to be over, so he’ll get another look at his original position. Both have options remaining. Uber-prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes, meanwhile, should have a clear path to at-bats at the hot corner after last year’s brilliant debut. At least on the surface, gregarious veteran Todd Frazier would seem to have a good chance to make the roster as a backup option at either corner.

Pittsburgh entered the winter without much clarity in the outfield, and several months later, not much has changed. They’ll still hope for a Gregory Polanco rebound that allows them to shed at least some of his contract, while 2019 Rookie of the Year candidate Bryan Reynolds will get a chance at his own rebound in left field.

On paper, the Pirates seemed like a decent landing spot for a non-tendered outfielder with some big league experience and upside — a Hunter Renfroe or David Dahl, for instance — but they opted instead to mine the DFA/waiver market. The Bucs have a pair of former top 100 prospects to compete for time in center field: August waiver claim Anthony Alford and recent trade acquisition Dustin Fowler. They’ll be joined by veteran minor league signee Brian Goodwin, who figures to have a good chance to make the club as well. If Goodwin indeed cracks the roster, he can be controlled through 2022 via arbitration.

No one expected the Pirates to be particularly aggressive spenders in free agency this winter, but it’s still something of a surprise, given the holes on the pitching staff, that the club didn’t bring in some more low-cost help. If nothing else, any such arms could’ve potentially become trade chips this summer, and they’d have helped to prevent the team from over-relying on a collection of pitchers that has been oft-injured and inconsistent. Perhaps ownership simply wanted to keep the payroll as low as possible, and if that’s the case, then mission accomplished; the entire Pirates roster will barely earn more than Trevor Bauer alone will be paid by the Dodgers in 2021.

Winning games in the short-term clearly isn’t a priority for the Pirates as they wade through the arduous tanking process in an effort to stack their draft and international classes over the next few years. We’ve seen many clubs go through this process since the Cubs and Astros won World Series on the backs of full-scale rebuilds, but the returns have diminished over the years as more teams employ the tactic. Perhaps the Pirates will eventually emerge as a division power in the wake of these lean years, but they’re asking fans for an awful lot of patience as they gear up for what looks like another non-competitive season and a top-five pick in 2022.

How would you grade the Pirates’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors iOS/Android app users)

NL Central Notes: Lauer, Cubs, Hoyer, Pirates

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The shoulder impingement that slowed Eric Lauer last March was more serious than reported at the time, as the Brewers southpaw tells MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters that there was actually a tear to the shoulder capsule of his throwing arm, as later tests revealed.  The shutdown allowed time for Lauer to recover physically, but he then missed two weeks of Summer Camp on quarantine after being in close contact with someone who was COVID-19 positive.

It all added up to a forgettable debut season for Lauer in Milwaukee, as he was rocked for a 13.09 ERA over just 11 innings.  Acquired along with Luis Urias for Zach Davies and Trent Grisham in a November 2019 deal with the Padres, Lauer is looking to live up to his end of the trade return by matching or bettering his past numbers (4.40 ERA, 20.6K%) over 261 2/3 innings with San Diego in 2018-19.  Lauer does have minor league options remaining, however, which could put him in line for some shuttling back and forth from Triple-A as the Brewers mix and match their starting pitchers to keep everyone’s arm fresh.

More from the NL Central…

  • The Cubs’ payroll situation has been a major focus of the offseason, but president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is “confident” the team would be able to add salary for midseason additions “if we play well and there’s clear things we need to do to add to the team.”  As Hoyer told The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney and other reporters, however, much will depend on such uncertain revenue streams as the number of fans the team will be permitted to allow into Wrigley Field.  The Cubs opened the winter in clear cost-cutting mode, culminating in the trade that sent Yu Darvish to the Padres, and Hoyer admitted that “we were probably on the more pessimistic side of things” in terms of payroll in the wake of the 2020 season.  More recently, a modest spending spree for players on one- or two-year contracts does indicate some willingness on the team’s part to stretch the payroll, or as Hoyer put it, they became “more optimistic or less pessimistic” about their spending capacity.
  • The Pirates overhauled their rotation in the offseason, and while they have a provisional starting five in place, most or all of the arms competing for jobs will probably end up getting starts this season, The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel writes.  Apart from Tyler Anderson, none of the Bucs’ other starting candidates have pitched more than 157 1/3 innings in a season, so there will be plenty of need for multiple hurlers to cover innings as pitchers rebuild arm strength in the wake of the shortened 2020 season.  “I think we’re talking about like 10 or 11 [pitchers],” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said.  Considering how the Pirates remain open to trade ideas, it’s very possible that even more pitchers will be needed should the club move a veteran arm or two at some point prior to the trade deadline.

NL Central Notes: Senzel, Pirates, Vogelbach

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The Reds still don’t have a clear answer at shortstop, but it doesn’t appear as though moving Nick Senzel back to the infield is a consideration. Manager David Bell today told reporters that Senzel is seen as the primary center fielder in Cincinnati, adding that if the club ever considered putting him back in the infield, “…we’d be missing a lot in the outfield” (Twitter link via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com).

On paper at least, there’s reason to consider such a shift sensible. The Reds have a crowded outfield mix with Shogo Akiyama, Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos also in the mix for at-bats. Winker and Castellanos are strictly corner outfielders, but Akiyama has a long track record in center field in Japan and, ostensibly, could be viewed as a candidate for regular work in center. That’s not in the plans at this time, it seems, so they’ll look to a mix of Kyle Farmer, Kyle Holder, Jose Garcia and non-roster veteran Dee Strange-Gordon as options at shortstop. It’s a mix that could clearly use an upgrade, but at this time there’s no indication the team is aggressively pursuing alternatives.

More from the division…

  • Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford is still limited on defense following last year’s fractured right elbow, director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk told reporters (link via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike Persak). While Alford will likely be in early spring games as a designated hitter, he’s still facing some “challenges” with regard to throwing. While the Bucs will likely give Bryan Reynolds at least some time in center this season, manager Derek Shelton implied Wednesday that the current battle is more one between Alford and non-roster veteran Brian Goodwin. That was before the club’s acquisition of Dustin Fowler from the Athletics, however, so it’s likely that the newly acquired former top prospect is now in the mix as well. That seems to leave Reynolds as the primary left fielder and Gregory Polanco looking for a bounceback in right field. Both Fowler and Alford are out of minor league options, so they’ll need to make the Opening Day roster (or be placed on the Major League injured list) to avoid being designated for assignment again.
  • There’s still no indication that the National League will be able to deploy a designated hitter in 2021, but Brewers skipper Craig Counsell is still rooting for a late agreement to change that, writes MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy. Though Counsell has previously been against the NL DH, the manager noted that for the Brewers roster, as currently constructed, it would be beneficial. That’s largely because of the presence of Daniel Vogelbach, who mashed in 67 plate appearances as a Brewer late in the 2020 season but was pushed off a potential regular role at first base when Milwaukee signed Kolten Wong, thus sliding Keston Hiura over to first base. As McCalvy notes, if there’s no late agreement on a designated hitter, it’s possible the Brewers could cut Vogelbach loose. He agreed to a $1.4MM to avoid arbitration over the winter, but the Brewers would only owe him 30 days’ salary ($226K) if he’s cut in the first half of Spring Training or 45 days ($339K) if he’s cut in the second half of camp. If Vogelbach makes the Opening Day roster, that entire $1.4MM salary would be locked in.

Pirates Acquire Dustin Fowler From Athletics

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5:59pm: The teams have announced the trade. To make room for Fowler on their 40-man roster, the Pirates placed southpaw Austin Davis on the 60-day injured list with a left elbow sprain.

4:28pm: The Pirates have acquired outfielder Dustin Fowler from the Athletics for cash considerations, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. Fowler spent a brief time in limbo after the A’s designated him for assignment Monday.

Pittsburgh will be the third big league organization for the 26-year-old Fowler, who began as an 18th-round pick of the Yankees in 2013. Fowler performed well as a minor leaguer with the Yankees and made his major league debut with the team in June 2017, but he suffered a brutal knee injury in his first game and never donned their uniform again. The Yankees wound up trading Fowler to the A’s a month later in the teams’ deal centering on right-hander Sonny Gray.

Fowler ranked as Baseball America’s 88th-best prospect in 2018, and he rebounded from his injury that year in Triple-A, where he batted .341/.364/.520 with four home runs in 13 stolen bases across 239 plate appearances. While Fowler also earned a good amount of playing time in Oakland that season, he slumped to a .224/.256/.354 line with six homers and a half-dozen steals in 203 PA and hasn’t appeared in the majors since. Fowler slashed .277/.333/.477 with 25 homers and 12 stolen bags over 606 tries during the most recent Triple-A campaign in 2019.

Although Fowler’s career hasn’t gone according to plan so far, there’s no real harm in taking a chance on his potential from the Pirates’ standpoint. Fowler may have a legitimate chance to earn a roster spot with outfielder-needy Pittsburgh, but with no minor league options remaining, the club won’t be able to send him down without potentially losing him.

Quick Hits: Braves, Rosenthal, Ohtani, Ray, Cherington

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The Braves had interest in Trevor Rosenthal before the reliever signed with the A’s, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman writes (Twitter link).  With Rosenthal now off the market, Atlanta is still looking for right-handed relief help, and Heyman wonders if the Braves could turn to a familiar face in Shane Greene.  Apart from some consideration from the Twins earlier this month, there hasn’t been much buzz about Greene this offseason, despite his 2.39 ERA over 90 1/3 innings since the start of the 2019 season.  Greene doesn’t have a big fastball and his peripherals haven’t been overly impressive, however, which could explain why he still available heading into his age-32 season.  Atlanta did recently add veteran righty Nate Jones to their bullpen mix on a minor league deal.

Some more notes from around baseball…

  • Most players make changes in the wake of a rough season, but Shohei Ohtani faced the increased challenge of overhauling himself as both a hitter and a pitcher after a 2020 campaign the Angels star called “pathetic.”  Ohtani’s offseason endeavors included a trip to Driveline Baseball, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports, and Ohtani and his agent Nez Balelo told reporters that the pitcher/DH has adopted a new training regiment, a new diet, and made changes to his swing.  Ohtani’s training has been helped by the fact that he is now recovered from a flexor strain that limited him to 1 2/3 innings as a pitcher in 2020, which came after not pitching at all in 2019 due to Tommy John surgery.
  • Robbie Ray’s foray into the open market didn’t last long, as the southpaw re-signed with the Blue Jays shortly after the free agent period opened in early November.  This gave Ray more time to spend with Jays coaches on trying to correct his form following a mediocre 2020 season, Ray told reporters (including The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm).  Ray made changes to his arm slot prior to the 2020 season, which may have led to such disastrous results as a 6.62 ERA and 45 walks over just 51 2/3 innings with the Diamondbacks and Blue Jays.
  • The Pirates are still in the early stages of a rebuild, and GM Ben Cherington gave an outline of the team’s basic plan to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other reporters.  Modeled after how other clubs have undergone rebuilds, Cherington broke it down into three steps: talent accumulation, developing that talent, and then adding to that talent base through trades and free agency.  The general manager also made it clear that the Bucs are still in the first step, as “whatever improvement we’ve seen in our overall organizational talent — and I think we have seen some improvements in the last year — it’s not enough.  We’ve got to keep going.  We’ve got to be one of the stronger organizations just in terms of overall talent to give ourselves the best chance to win.”

NL Central Notes: Rodriguez, Carpenter, Farmer

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There is plenty of opportunity for hurlers to win jobs on the rebuilding Pirates’ pitching staff, and The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel (subscription required) breaks down the full list of arms in Pittsburgh’s Spring Training camp.  This isn’t to say that the Bucs are entirely done making moves, however, as Biertempfel names Richard Rodriguez the “Pirates reliever most likely to be traded this spring.”

Since signing with Pittsburgh prior to the 2018 season, Rodriguez has posted very strong numbers — a 3.02 ERA, and an above-average 28.16K% and 7.15BB% over 158 relief innings.  Home runs have been an issue (1.3 HR/9) and Rodriguez’s hard-contact numbers were among the worst in baseball last season, though he also has some elite (96th percentile) fastball spin.  Rodriguez turns 31 in March, but he is controlled through the 2023 season via arbitration, and is set to earn a modest $1.7MM this season.  There hasn’t been any public trade speculation about Rodriguez during the offseason to date, yet considering how the Pirates are open to discussing virtually player in the organization, it seems likely some teams have already been in touch about Rodriguez.  More talks could develop as Spring Training continues and clubs get a clearer sense of their bullpen needs.

Some more items from around the NL Central…

  • Matt Carpenter will not be spending time in the outfield this season, Cardinals manager Mike Shildt told Jeff Jones of the Belleville News (Twitter link) and other reports. Now that Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt are entrenched at Carpenter’s usual corner infield positions, there has been some speculation that the Cardinals could look for other ways to get his bat in the lineup. Since the outfield is a non-starter for Carpenter and NL teams won’t have a designated hitter spot, this leaves either a second base platoon with Tommy Edman or bench duty for the 35-year-old Carpenter.  The three-time All-Star has seen a steep decline at the plate over the past two seasons, and 2021 looms as Carpenter’s final year in St. Louis — the Cardinals have an $18.5MM club option for 2022 that seems almost sure to be bought out unless Carpenter has a major rebound.
  • Kyle Farmer was keeping one eye on baseball Twitter this offseason to see if the Reds would sign a shortstop, he told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters, since Farmer was preparing to take a shot at the position himself.  After playing just one game at shortstop over his first three seasons, Farmer made 15 appearances as a shortstop in 2020, and still remains in the mix for at least semi-regular work among a group that also includes Kyle Holder, Dee Strange-Gordon, and Max Schrock.  (Jose Garcia is one of the few pure shortstops on the roster, though he is set to begin the season in the minors.)  Farmer lost 10 pounds and overhauled his swing this offseason in his bid to prove himself worthy of regular playing time, though his multi-position versatility already makes him a strong candidate for a roster spot.

Pirates, Todd Frazier Agree To Minor League Deal

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FEB 20: The Pirates have formally announced the signing of Frazier. He has received an invite to spring training.

FEB 19: The Pirates and veteran corner infielder Todd Frazier are in agreement on a minor league contract, longtime New York Post scribe Kevin Kernan reports (via Twitter). Kevin Williams of the Shore Sports Network writes that Frazier himself confirmed the agreement to him. Frazier, a CAA Baseball client, will head to Major League camp with the Pirates as a non-roster invitee. Frazier will earn a $1.5MM salary if he makes the club, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. The deal is pending a physical.

Frazier, who turned 35 last Friday, is a 10-year veteran who has appeared with the Reds, White Sox, Yankees, Mets and Rangers since his 2011 debut. He has consistently been an above-average producer at the plate, having slashed .242/.319/.448 (108 wRC+) with 218 home runs and 73 stolen bases in 4,909 trips. Frazier has also twice hit at least 35 homers in an individual season, earned a pair of All-Star nods and been a plus defender at third, where he has put up 20 Defensive Runs Saved and a 24.6 Ultimate Zone Rating across almost 9,100 innings at the position.

While Frazier has enjoyed an impressive career thus far, he had to settle for a minors deal with the bottom-feeding Pirates because of subpar production between the Mets and Rangers in 2020. Frazier hit a mere .236/.302/.382 (89 wRC+) with four HRs and a career-worst .146 ISO in 172 PA. Frazier also notched rather ugly Statcast numbers, evidenced in part by a .295 expected weighted on-base average that ranked in the league’s 15th percentile and barely outpaced his real wOBA of .281.

Although his production fell off last year, there’s no harm in taking a low-risk chance on Frazier from the Pirates’ perspective. Frazier could at least be a bench option for the team behind the projected third-first tandem of Ke’Bryan Hayes and Colin Moran if he earns a roster spot. If Frazier performs well in that role, the Pirates may be able to flip him elsewhere prior to the trade deadline.

Pirates Sign Tyler Anderson

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It’s been an offseason focused on stockpiling prospects and shedding payroll for the Pirates, but the club on Wednesday announced its first Major League free-agent signing of the winter. Left-hander Tyler Anderson has signed a one-year contract for the 2021 season, while Rule 5 righty Jose Soriano has been placed on the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Anderson, a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council, is reportedly guaranteed $2.5MM on the deal.

Tyler Anderson | Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Anderson became a free agent when the Giants non-tendered him at the Dec. 2 deadline. The 31-year-old appeared in 13 of their games last season, started 11, and notched a 4.37 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. Those numbers look OK, but Anderson survived despite below-average strikeout, walk and groundball percentages of 15.8, 9.6 and 28.5, respectively. Anderson also only managed a 5.69 SIERA, which ranked next to last among 81 pitchers who amassed at least 50 innings in 2020.

Before he joined the Giants, Anderson spent 2016-19 as a member of the Rockies, with whom he largely posted acceptable production. Overall, Anderson has a 4.65 ERA/4.36 SIERA with a 21.0 percent strikeout rate and a 7.7 percent walk rate across 456 2/3 innings. The former Oregon star and first-round pick has seen his time on the mound interrupted by a series of knee injuries, by Anderson’s elbow and shoulder have held up throughout his pro career.

Anderson should fill a rotation spot this year with the non-contending Pirates, who don’t have anything resembling a front-line starter at the moment after trading away both Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon this winter as part of their ongoing rebuild. Anderson will join Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl as the most experienced starters on the 40-man roster in Pittsburgh, while younger arms like Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker, Wil Crowe and Miguel Yajure will vie for opportunities to prove themselves at the MLB level.

Any of Anderson, Brault or Kuhl could emerge as summer trade chips if they’re throwing well this year, and it’s still plausible that either Brault or Kuhl could be moved between now and Opening Day.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement (via Twitter). Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the terms (Twitter link).

Pirates, Brian Goodwin Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have agreed to a minor league deal with outfielder Brian Goodwin, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). He’ll be invited to Major League Spring Training. Goodwin will earn a $1.6MM salary with up to $900K in bonuses if he earns a roster spot, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (on Twitter).

Goodwin, 30, was the No. 34 overall pick in the 2011 draft but never cemented himself with his original organization, the Nationals, despite a few productive stints. He was eventually traded to the Royals and later claimed by the Angels off waivers — enjoying a fair bit of success in both spots. The Angels traded him to the Reds at last summer’s deadline, however, and Goodwin’s bat cratered in Cincinnati, where he batted just .163/.236/.357 in a tiny sample of 55 plate appearances. The Reds non-tendered him in December.

Setting aside that ugly stint in Cincinnati, though, Goodwin has been a productive big league hitter more often than not. He’s a .250/.317/.455 hitter overall, and as recently as 2019 he slashed .262/.326/.470 in near-regular playing time with the Angels (136 games, 458 plate appearances).

Goodwin doesn’t have particularly strong defensive ratings and probably won’t be seeing much (if any) time in center field with the Bucs. He’s best deployed in a corner, which the Bucs can certainly accommodate. Bryan Reynolds, Anthony Alford, Cole Tucker and Gregory Polanco are the likeliest names to vie for outfield time in Pittsburgh at the moment, though the Pirates will jump at any chance they’re provided to shed the remainder of Gregory Polanco’s contract. Alford has yet to establish himself at the MLB level, while Reynolds will be seeking a rebound after a disastrous follow-up to his brilliant rookie showing. Tucker, meanwhile is a converted shortstop who’ll need to earn a job as himself.

Based on his track record and the dearth of established outfield talent on the rebuilding Pirates’ roster, Goodwin seems to have a good chance at both cracking the roster and earning a fair bit of playing time. If he does indeed make the roster, the Pirates would be able to control him through the 2022 season via arbitration. Of course, if he makes the team and rebounds at the plate, he’ll immediately become a potential summer trade piece for a Pirates club that will be looking to move any and all short-term assets for additional prospect depth.

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