Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Pirates Rumors

Phillies Acquire Joel Cesar To Complete Austin Davis Trade

By | at

The Phillies announced that right-hander Joel Cesar has been acquired from the Pirates.  Cesar acts as the player to be named later from the August 26 trade that sent Austin Davis to Pittsburgh.

Cesar was a member of the Pirates’ 2015-16 international signing class, and the righty has posted some solid results over four seasons on the farm.  Cesar has a 3.18 ERA, 2.06 K/BB rate, and 8.7 K/9 over 138 2/3 innings, working as a reliever in 87 of his 90 career games.

The 24-year-old has yet to pitch beyond the Double-A level, though a Triple-A assignment would have been likely had there been a 2020 minor league season.  Cesar wasn’t included in Pittsburgh’s 60-man player pool, though he’ll now join Philadelphia’s 60-man mix and report to the Phils’ alternate training site.

Injury Notes: Piscotty, Blue Jays, Dean, Pirates

By | at

Injuries continue to mount for the Athletics, who could now face an absence for right fielder Stephen Piscotty. Per Shayna Rubin of the San Jose Mercury News, manager Bob Melvin revealed after Game 1 of yesterday’s doubleheader that Piscotty suffered a knee sprain when leaping in an attempt to rob a Jose Marmolejos home run. Piscotty will be further evaluated today, but Melvin added that Piscotty “had a pop” when he jumped. The 29-year-old Piscotty’s bat has gone cold this month, but he was one of Oakland’s best hitters in August, when he posted a .289/.323/.511 slash with five homers and five doubles on the month. His recent slump has dropped his season slash to .248/.289/.406, however. Mark Canha, who has already been spending time in right field, would likely be in line for more playing time should Piscotty require an IL stint.

A few more injury notes from around the game…

  • Blue Jays righties Nate Pearson and Matt Shoemaker will throw live batting practice this week and could return to the roster before season’s end, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. Neither can be expected to build back up to a full starter’s workload at this point, however, so their likeliest roles would be shorter stints out of the ’pen. Putting Pearson in a short, multi-inning relief role or even an inning-at-a-time relief role would give Toronto a potentially formidable postseason weapon if he is indeed able to make it back from his current flexor strain. Shoemaker, meanwhile, is working back from shoulder inflammation that has sidelined him since Aug. 23.
  • The Cardinals placed outfielder Austin Dean on the 10-day injured list due to a right elbow strain, per a club announcement. His injury comes just three days after returning from the Covid-19 injured list. The three games in which the 26-year-old Dean were his only appearances on the season. He went 1-for-4 with a double and three walks in that short time. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Dean might have avoided the IL were the club not pressed for bullpen arms, so it seems there’s a chance Dean will return before season’s end. Acquired in a January trade with the Marlins, Dean hasn’t yet had the opportunity to prove himself with his new club. He’s just a .224/.274/.390 hitter in 318 MLB plate appearances, but he carries a much more robust .331/.398/.546 line in 640 plate appearances at the Triple-A level.
  • Pirates righty Jameson Taillon chatted with reporters about the rehab of his second career Tommy John surgery and offered an optimistic outlook (link via MLB.com’s Adam Berry). Taillon is facing live hitters and said his elbow feels “amazing” at this point in the process. He’s worked with senior rehab coordinator A.J. Patrick, pitching coach Oscar Marin and bullpen coach Justin Meccage on what he believes to be a more mechanically sound delivery, Berry notes. Taillon acknowledged that changing the way he’s thrown since childhood is “tricky… But I came to the realization that two Tommy Johns kind of lets you know that what you’re doing isn’t working.” He also added that he’s seen his spin rate and spin efficiency increase — a reminder that pitchers are more data-focused than ever before in today’s game.
  • The Pirates placed righty Kyle Crick on the 10-day injured list with a lat strain, manager Derek Shelton announced to reporters yesterday (Twitter link via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The 27-year-old missed more than a month due to shoulder and lat discomfort earlier this season as well. Crick has pitched just 5 2/3 innings in 2020, and while he’s only surrendered one earned run with seven strikeouts, he’s given up another five unearned runs on seven hits and four walks. Crick hasn’t looked right in 2020, as he’s averaged just 91.3 mph on his four-seamer — a pitch that averaged 95.4 mph in 2019 and 96.4 mph in 2018. Crick was lights-out in 2018, but he’s struggled with control issues and now a velocity dip since that time. He still carries a 3.44 ERA and 4.32 FIP with 10.4 K/9 in 115 frames since coming over from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen deal, but there are some visible red flags at the moment. Crick is controlled through 2023 and will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter.

Pirates To Activate Mitch Keller From Injured List

By | at

The Pirates are set to activate right-hander Mitch Keller from the injured list in advance of tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Reds, manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Adam Berry of MLB.com). He’ll get the start for one of those games.

The 14-29 Pirates have long been buried in the National League’s postseason field. Nevertheless, it’ll be nice to get a handful of starts from Keller down the stretch, as the 24-year-old is a critical part of the organization’s future. The former top prospect only has a 6.63 ERA in his first 55.2 MLB innings, but his 3.77 FIP hints at the mid-rotation upside for which he’s long been lauded.

While Keller entered 2020 looking like a potential breakout candidate, he’s been limited to just two starts by left side discomfort. Out since August 2, he’s now seemingly in line for three more starts to stake a claim to a spot in Pittsburgh’s 2021 rotation. There should be ample opportunity for Keller to pitch himself back into that mix. Joe Musgrove profiles as one of the league’s more likely trade candidates this offseason, while Chris Archer is a good bet to be cut loose on the heels of thoracic outlet surgery. Trevor Williams has struggled, while Chad Kuhl’s solid 3.38 ERA comes with much shakier peripherals.

International Signings: 9/12/20

By | at

Since the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the opening of the 2020-21 international signing period to January 15, the 2019-20 signing window is still open, and teams are still making some additions with leftover funds in their international spending pools.  The latest…

  • The Pirates have signed Venezuelan right-hander Eduardo Zapata, John Dreker of Pirates Prospects reports (Twitter links).  Details on Zapata’s bonus aren’t known, though Dreker says the signing was made possible due to Pittsburgh’s acquisition of $243.3K in international pool money from the White Sox in last month’s trade that sent Jarrod Dyson to Chicago.
  • The Reds have signed Dominican righty Kelvin Valdez, according to Baseball America’s Ben Badler (via Twitter).  Valdez is only 17 years old, but he is already 6’3″ tall and can throw up to 95mph.
  • The Padres have signed right-hander Jose Luis Reyes, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (via Twitter).  Reyes “is considered one of the top prospects in” Mexico, Sanchez writes, and the 18-year-old possesses a three-pitch arsenal of a slider, changeup, and a fastball in the 88-92mph range.  Reyes is 6’2″, 190 pounds.

NL Injury Notes: Pham, Smyly, Turner, Pirates

By | at

Padres outfielder Tommy Pham is less than a month out from a broken hamate bone, but he’s making rapid progress. Pham resumed live on-field batting practice today, Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Twitter. The 32-year-old had been off to a sluggish start to the year but will still have some time to make his presence felt as the Pads try to angle for postseason position.

More injury updates from the National League …

  • The Giants are preparing to welcome back southpaw Drew Smyly tomorrow, manager Gabe Kapler tells reporters including John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). It’ll be interesting to see what the veteran hurler can deliver down the stretch. Though he hasn’t been available for many innings, he turned in a few interesting outings that hinted at a resurgence.
  • While there’s little reason to rush, the Dodgers are close to activating rehabbing third baseman Justin Turner. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters including Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register (Twitter link) that Turner still hasn’t put his tender hamstring through the full paces. Nevertheless, the club expects to have him active within the week, though Turner could initially function as a DH.
  • The Pirates provided a few pitching rehab updates, some more promising than others (via MLB.com’s Adam Berry, on Twitter). Mitch Keller (side injury) and Jameson Taillon (Tommy John) are each throwing sim games, while reliever Keone Kela is now participating in mound work. It’s still unclear how much MLB action each of those hurlers will be capable of late this year, but that’s generally encouraging news. The situation is different for fellow righty Yacksel Rios, who remains sidelined by shoulder woes. He was shut down after symptoms flared up.

Pirates Place Anthony Alford On 45-Day Injured List

By | at

TODAY: Alford underwent elbow surgery yesterday, the Pirates announced, and the outfielder “is projected to participate in full baseball activities in spring training 2021.”

SEPTEMBER 6: Alford’s season is indeed over, as the Pirates announced they have placed him on the 45-day injured list. Outfielder Jason Martin is up from the alternate training site to replace him on the active roster.

SEPTEMBER 5: Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford fractured his right elbow during tonight’s game, the team announced.  Alford suffered the injury during the third inning after crashing into the wall in pursuit of a Tucker Barnhart home run ball.

While the severity of the injury has yet to be revealed, it certainly would seem that Alford’s 2020 season has come to an end.  The 26-year-old only recently joined the Pirates after being claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays, with Saturday’s contest with the Reds marking Alford’s fifth game in the black and gold.  The early returns from the change of scenery were promising, as Alford had three hits (including a home run) and a walk over his first 13 plate appearances as a Pirate.

The elbow fracture is the latest in a series of injuries that have hampered Alford’s career and kept him from establishing himself as a Major League regular.  A highly-regarded prospect while in the Jays’ farm system, Alford hit a modest .265/.358/.393 over 2098 career plate appearances in the minors, then a .454 OPS over 75 PA for Toronto at the big league level from 2017-20.  The Blue Jays designated Alford for assignment in August, and Pittsburgh made the claim to give Alford a look as the Bucs continue to build for the future.

Orioles Claim Carson Fulmer

By | at

The Orioles have claimed right-hander Carson Fulmer off waivers from the Pirates, the team announced.  The Fulmer move was one of a series of transactions made this afternoon by the O’s, who also called up righty David Hess from their alternate training site, sent right-hander Evan Phillips to the alternate site, and added infield prospect Rylan Bannon to the 60-man player pool.  This is all in addition to the most notable news of the day for the club, as breakout star Anthony Santander is headed to the injured list with a potentially season-ending injury.

Fulmer will be joining his fourth organization in less than two months, as the 26-year-old has already been a waiver claim for both the Pirates and Tigers since being originally designated for assignment by the White Sox back on July 23.  Fulmer is out of options, which is why teams have been unable to just send him to their alternate training sites without another club pouncing on the right-hander on the waiver wire.  Within this whirlwind of movement, Fulmer has amassed 6 2/3 innings pitched this season, all with Detroit, with a 6.75 ERA.

The eighth overall pick of the 2015 draft, Fulmer has yet to live up to expectations in the majors, with a career 6.57 ERA, 1.34 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 101 1/3 career IP with the Tigers and White Sox.  Given his prospect pedigree and relatively young age, it isn’t hard to see why the Orioles (and other clubs) have been interested in taking a look at Fulmer as a potential post-hype breakout player.

Bannon, 24, was an eight-round pick for the Orioles in the 2017 draft.  A product of Xavier University, Bannon has a .280/.375/.481 slash line and 43 home runs over 1234 career minor league plate appearances, which included 90 PA and 20 games with Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate in 2019.  It remains to be seen if the O’s have Bannon in mind for a September call-up, though he will provide depth as both a second baseman and third baseman if he does make his MLB debut this year.

Recent Player Pool Additions: Tigers, Rangers, Rays, Pirates, Phillies

By | at

The flurry of trades leading up to the deadline created some vacancies in teams’ player pools, and we’ve continued to see a few clubs add prospects to their ranks even in the days since the deadline as they look to get said players some vital developmental reps late in the season. Here’s a look at some of the latest additions around the league…

  • Outfielder Parker Meadows and right-handers Logan Shore, Jason Foley and Alex Lange have all been added to the Tigers’ pool, the team announced Thursday morning. Meadows, the No. 44 pick in 2018 and the younger brother of Rays star Austin Meadows, is the most highly regarded of the bunch. He posted strong numbers that summer but struggled in his first full season, slashing .221/.296/.312 against older competition in Class-A. He’s ranked 13th among Detroit prospects at MLB.com and at FanGraphs. Lange, 24, was the better of the two pitching prospects acquired from the Cubs in the trade that sent Nick Castellanos to Chicago last year. He’s pitched as a high as Double-A already and could be an option for the Tigers by next year. Foley was an undrafted free agent in ’16 who missed the 2018 season due to injury but returned with solid numbers in Class-A Advanced last year. Shore, a former second-round pick of the A’s, was sent to Detroit as a PTBNL in 2018’s Mike Fiers trade. Shore’s changeup is considered a potentially plus pitch, but the rest of his arsenal isn’t regarded nearly as highly.

Earlier Additions

  • The Rangers announced that infielder Davis Wendzel, outfielder Bubba Thompson and outfielder Steele Walker were all added to their 60-man pool this week. Wendzel was the No. 41 overall pick in the 2019 draft, while Thompson was selected 26th overall back in 2017. Wendzel saw just seven pro games after being drafted last year, so he’s still relatively light on overall professional experience. Thompson had a strong 2018 campaign in his first year of pro ball but saw his production crater in Class-A Advanced last year. He fared better in the Arizona Fall League, however. The 24-year-old Walker was a second-rounder of the White Sox back in 2018 but was traded to Texas over the winter in exchange for Nomar Mazara. He hit .284/.361/.451 in 525 plate appearances across Class-A and Class-A Advanced last year.
  • Infield prospect Greg Jones was added to the Rays’ player pool, per a club announcement. Tampa Bay selected the now-22-year-old Jones with the No. 22 pick out of UNC Wilmington in 2019. He posted a .335/.413/.461 slash in 48 games and 218 plate appearances with the Rays’ short-season Class-A affiliate in the New York-Penn League, although that wasn’t a particularly aggressive initial assignment for a college bat. The success is still notable, of course, and he’ll get some additional simulated game reps and face time with coaches over the season’s final month.
  • The Pirates added 2019 first-rounder Quinn Priester to their player pool earlier this week, MLBTR has learned. The Illinois native was selected with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft and logged 36 2/3 innings between Rookie ball and short-season Class-A last year. Priester pitched to a 3.19 ERA in that time with a 41-to-14 K/BB ratio and a hefty 59.1 percent ground-ball rate. He’s considered to be one of the organization’s best two to three best pitching prospects.
  • The Phillies added former No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak to their player pool a day prior to the trade deadline. As Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia noted at the time, it was possible the timing of the move was sheer coincidence and not part of any scheme to trade the 22-year-old outfielder. Moniak had been rehabbing a knee injury, Salisbury wrote, and he’d progressed to the point where he’s able to work at the Phillies’ alternate training site rather than rehab at their Spring Training complex. Moniak hasn’t lived up to his 1-1 billing, but he did post better-than-average numbers against much more advanced pitching in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting last year. His .252/.303/.439 slash doesn’t look like much, but that checked in 15 percent better than average in the Eastern League, per wRC+.

Pirates Designate Carson Fulmer For Assignment

By | at

The Pirates announced that they have designated right-hander Carson Fulmer for assignment. The club also reinstated righty Joe Musgrove from the injured list, reinstated outfielder Bryan Reynolds from the paternity list and optioned infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna.

The Pirates are already the third team since July for Fulmer, who has gone from Chicago to Detroit to Pittsburgh in the past month-plus. Fulmer was once a highly regarded prospect, but it hasn’t translated to success in the majors for the 26-year-old, who owns a 6.57 ERA/6.33 FIP across 101 1/3 innings with the White Sox and Tigers. He hasn’t appeared in a big league game with the Pirates, who claimed him from the Tigers on Aug. 24, and could soon leave the organization. Fulmer’s out of options, though, so it’s possible no other team will take a chance on him.

Musgrove, out since Aug. 11 with right triceps inflammation, is scheduled to start for the Pirates against the Cubs on Wednesday. Musgrove started 2020 poorly before his IL placement (6.75 ERA/6.83 FIP in 14 2/3 innings), but he was a capable starter for the Pirates from 2018-19 and could boost his trade value heading into the offseason with a strong finish. Musgrove nearly went from Pittsburgh to Toronto before Monday’s trade deadline, but the two sides couldn’t come together on a deal.

Socrates Brito Reportedly Opts Out Of Season

By | at

6:04pm: Brito hasn’t officially made a decision yet, the Pirates announced (via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The Pirates did note there’s a “possibility” Brito will opt out.

5:38pm: Pirates outfielder Socrates Brito has opted out of the season, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Brito made the decision after his brother passed away of COVID-19.

This isn’t the first time the coronavirus has affected Brito, who tested positive for the illness in early July. Brito was able to return to the Pirates shortly after, though, and the hope is that the 27-year-old will be able to get back on a major league diamond next season. The former Diamondback and Blue Jay, who joined the Pirates on a minor league contract last winter, has seen action in four big league seasons since he debuted in 2015. He didn’t make any appearances with the Pirates this year.

Pittsburgh has now seen two of its players opt out of the season. Righty Hector Noesi previously decided not to play this year because of family concerns.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

hide arrows scroll to top