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Pirates Outright Wil Crowe

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The Pirates announced a few transactions before tonight’s matchup with the Padres. Pittsburgh selected the contract of infielder Alika Williams to make his MLB debut, as reported this morning. Infielder Tucupita Marcano is going directly on the 60-day injured list with ligament damage in his right knee, clearing both active and 40-man roster space. Additionally, reliever Wil Crowe was sent outright to Triple-A Indianapolis after clearing waivers.

Crowe had been designated for assignment last week. The righty had been on the shelf since April due to discomfort in his throwing shoulder. Rather than bring him back to the 40-man roster once he was healthy, the Bucs designated him for assignment. He’s gone unclaimed and will stick in the organization as a non-roster player, since he doesn’t have the service time to test free agency.

A former second-round pick who was acquired from the Nationals in the Josh Bell trade, Crowe has spent two and a half seasons in Pittsburgh. He struggled as a starter in 2021 but found a bit more success after a bullpen conversion last year. Through 76 innings, he posted a 4.38 ERA while inducing grounders on nearly half the batted balls he allowed.

Marcano, meanwhile, seems in danger of missing the rest of the season. He’ll be out until at least the middle of September. The left-handed hitter posted a .233/.276/.356 line over a career-high 220 plate appearances prior to the injury, which occurred when he awkwardly tried to avoid a tag while running the bases in last night’s win over San Diego.

Pirates To Select Alika Williams

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The Pirates are selecting the contract of infield prospect Alika Williams from Triple-A Indianapolis, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 24-year-old will be making his MLB debut whenever he takes the field.

Williams, acquired from the Rays in the trade that sent righty Robert Stephenson to Tampa Bay, was the No. 37 overall draft pick by the Rays in 2020. After a tough stretch in Double-A with the Rays, where he hit .237/.314/.417 (93 wRC+) in 175 plate appearances, Williams is batting .305/.384/.531 (126 wRC+) in 148 Triple-A plate appearances with the Bucs. He’s trimmed his strikeout rate from 19.4% in Double-A to 14.9% in Triple-A, while his walk rate has crept up from 8.4% to 10.1%.

Scouting reports on Williams have typically pegged him as a glove-first option at shortstop with plus speed and minimal power. He’s popped a career-high 12 home runs in the minors this season, however, adding another 19 doubles and a triple. On the basepaths, he’s 6-for-8.

If he’s able to continue that surprising power output at the big league level, it’s possible Williams could eventually outperform the generally modest expectations that peg him as a potential utility infielder at the big league level. Even if he winds up as more of a contact- and defense-oriented infielder, however, his glove at short and ability to handle either second base or third base would give him a good chance to carve out a spot on a big league bench.

The Bucs are dealing with a potential injury of note for utilityman Tucupita Marcano, as Justice de los Santos of MLB.com tweeted last night that Marcano was pulled from the game with what appears to be a ligament injury in his knee. If Marcano is indeed headed to the injured list, Williams could step into his bench spot and see occasional work around an infield that’s currently relying on young options like Jared Triolo (25), Nick Gonzales (24) and Liover Peguero (22) at third base, second base and shortstop while starters Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz are on the injured list.

Pirates Release Drew Maggi

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The Pirates released infielder Drew Maggi, according to reporter Pat Ragazzo (Twitter link).  Maggi didn’t have any hard feelings about the situation, telling Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that Pirates fans are “the best in the world.  And thank you to the Pirates organization.  I’m not done yet!”

Maggi made his MLB debut earlier this season, appearing in three games for the Pirates and getting two hits in six plate appearances.  At age 34, Maggi waited a long time for that cup of coffee in the majors, as he has been in pro ball since he was a 15th-round selection for the Pirates in the 2010 draft.  Maggi bounced around to five other teams’ farm systems from 2015-22 before returning to the Pittsburgh organization last August in a minor trade with the Phillies.

Maggi’s minor league time this season has been with Double-A Altoona, and as Mackey noted, Maggi hasn’t played a game since July 8.  A move to the development list on July 14 hinted that Maggi’s time with the Pirates was nearing an end, and Mackey writes that with so many young prospects in need of playing time, Maggi was the odd man out.

With a reputation as a strong clubhouse leader, Maggi might draw attention from another team looking to add some veteran leadership within its minor league ranks.  Coaching or managerial roles also seem like possibilities down the line, though Maggi isn’t yet ready to hang up his glove.

Pirates Willing To Listen To Trade Offers On David Bednar, Mitch Keller

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4:14PM: The Pirates are also open to hearing what teams might offer for Mitch Keller, Heyman tweets, but like with Bednar, a trade doesn’t seem likely.  It would seem like Pittsburgh is taking a broad, due-diligence approach to the deadline just in case a special opportunity arises, yet moving a building-block type like Keller or Bednar would indeed require a real blockbuster of an offer.

3:25PM: The Pirates are willing to listen to trade offers on closer David Bednar, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post, though he adds that it will likely be difficult to get a deal together.

Bednar, 28, would undoubtedly be of interest to any club around the league, given the way he keeps taking his game to new levels. Across 2021 and 2022, he posted a 2.40 earned run average in 106 appearances, striking out 32.7% of batters faced while walking 7.8%. This year, he’s cut his walk rate to just 5.8%, helping him drop his ERA to 1.15. He earned 19 saves last year and has already matched that figure here in 2023.

On top of his obvious skills, Bednar would have plenty of appeal to MLB clubs based on his status. He came into the 2023 season with two years and 76 days of service time. That means he’ll qualify for arbitration for the first time this winter and won’t be scheduled to reach free agency until after the 2026 campaign. Just about every contending club can use a strong bullpen upgrade at this time of year, bumping every other reliever down one spot in the pecking order.

Of course, the same qualities that make Bednar attractive to the other 29 clubs also work on the Pirates. The club has faded after a hot start and is now 43-56, but they have shown enough potential this year to suggest that maybe contention isn’t too far away. Reliever performance is volatile and there is a school of thought that a club in seller position should be open to moving any member of its bullpen, which makes it fairly logical for the Bucs to listen and see what’s out there. But Bednar’s elite performance and local ties, having been born in Pittsburgh and raised nearby, suggest they will need to be blown away in order for a deal to come together.

It’s important to distinguish between a club that’s willing to listen to offers versus one that is actively shopping a player around. There’s nothing to suggest the Pirates have done the latter, so it’s possible that their open mind to incoming calls is merely due diligence. Perhaps some club makes them an offer they can’t refuse, but it seems the most likely scenario is that he stays in Pittsburgh as they take another shot at contention next year.

Although obtaining Bednar may prove difficult, teams looking for quality bullpen upgrades should have plenty of other options among the potential trade candidates this summer. Some other names that figure to be more attainable include Scott Barlow, David Robertson, Jordan Hicks and many others.

Pirates Designate Wil Crowe For Assignment

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July 21: Pittsburgh officially designated Crowe for assignment Friday afternoon. They also activated Jose Hernandez from the 15-day injured list while optioning righty Yohan Ramirez to Triple-A.

July 19: The Pirates are going to designate right-hander Wil Crowe for assignment, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Crowe has been on the 60-day injured list since April and has been on a rehab assignment of late, but the Bucs evidently don’t plan on putting him back on their roster.

Crowe, 28, was a starter earlier in his career but switched to a relief role last year. He tossed 76 innings over 60 appearances for the Pirates with a 4.38 earned run average. His 20.5% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate were both a couple of ticks below average but he kept the ball on the ground at a 49.8% rate. Those solid results moved him up the club’s bullpen chart, allowing him to record four saves and 16 holds on the season.

This year, he made just five appearances before landing on the IL due right shoulder discomfort. He began a rehab assignment a couple of weeks ago and made five appearances in the minors with a 1.59 ERA, but it seems the club doesn’t want to put him back on the 40-man roster. The Pirates have been funneling various prospects to the big league level in recent weeks, which has involved selecting the contracts of players like Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales and Quinn Priester, perhaps crowding things out too much for Crowe.

The Bucs will now have a week to trade Crowe or pass him through waivers. He still has an option year and has yet to qualify for arbitration, which could perhaps give him some appeal to clubs looking for an extra depth arm. If he were to clear waivers, he would not have the right to elect free agency since he has not previously been outrighted in his career and it still shy of three years of major league service time.

Pirates Release Travis Swaggerty

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The Pirates have released outfielder Travis Swaggerty, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was already removed from their roster when he was designated for assignment earlier this week, so this won’t impact their 40-man roster count.

The release appears to be a result of Swaggerty’s frustration injury situation. Earlier this summer, he spoke to Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about how he’s been dealing with migraines since November. “It’s been crazy, and there’s been times I’ve been at the plate where it felt like I could barely see because I had a migraine or I was having that vertigo,” Swaggerty said.

Swaggerty has been placed on the minor league injured list a couple of times this year due to the issue, including on June 16. He started a rehab assignment on July 7 but played just one game and hasn’t returned to a lineup since. Players on the injured list can’t be placed on outright waivers and Swaggerty doesn’t seem to have been formally activated from the IL, leaving the Pirates little choice but to release him.

Players in this situation will often sign a new deal with the releasing club, but that’s no guarantee and Swaggerty will at least have the opportunity to peruse other offers. Prior to his setbacks this year, he was a prospect of note, having been selected in the first round of the 2018 draft with the 10th overall pick. But the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020 and Swaggerty required shoulder surgery in 2021 after just 12 games.

After missing almost two whole years, he returned to the field last year and hit .254/.348/.399 in 107 Triple-A games. That was above-average production, but just barely, translating to a 102 wRC+. He also got into five major league games but struck out in four of his nine plate appearances and recorded just one hit, a single. Now this year’s migraine issues have prevented him from building off that healthy season, as he’s played just 22 minor league games this year.

Pirates Sign No. 1 Overall Pick Paul Skenes

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The Pirates announced Tuesday that they’ve officially signed right-hander Paul Skenes, whom they selected with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. The now-former Louisiana State University ace will receive a $9.2MM signing bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. It’s the largest draft bonus ever issued under the current slotting system in Major League Baseball. Full slot value for the top overall selection was $9,721,000.

Skenes, 21, spent this year dominating for LSU. He made 19 starts for the Tigers with a 1.69 ERA in 122 2/3 innings. He struck out 209 of the 462 batters he faced, an incredible 45.2% rate, while walking just 20 for a 4.3% rate in that department.

Coming into the draft, he was a consensus top three pick by all of the major outlets alongside his LSU teammate Dylan Crews. ESPN, FanGraphs and Keith Law of The Athletic gave Skenes the #3 slot, Baseball America had him at #2, while MLB.com had him in the very top spot. MLB Pipeline puts an 80-grade on his fastball, the top mark possible on the 20-80 scale, noting that he averaged 98 mph this year while getting as high as 102. They also heap praise on his slider and compliment his changeup as well. He is described as a “classic” starter in that he is 6’6″ and 235 pounds, with the profile at MLB.com describing him as the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg in 2009.

Even the profiles that didn’t have Skenes in the #1 slot admitted that there was a case to have done so, though the greater injury risk for pitchers played a factor in bumping him to #2 or #3. All observers consider him to be a potential future ace some think he is talented enough to pitch in the big leagues today. That’s not to say the Pirates will consider such a path, since pitchers are often shut down in their draft year and Skenes already logged a significant workload this year.

How the Bucs will proceed with Skenes will be a fascinating development to watch this winter and into next year, given that some evaluators think he’s ready for the big leagues. The Pirates showed some signs of life earlier this year and had some hope of emerging from their rebuilding phase, but they’ve faded in the past couple of months and seem likely to be out of contention this year. But if they think they are ready to make a leap in 2024, they will have to come up with a plan for where Skenes fits in there.

The club has been aggressively promoting its prospects this year, with Henry Davis, Endy Rodríguez, Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero all called up in recent weeks, but there’s plenty of room in the rotation. Mitch Keller will undoubtedly be in the mix as he’s in his second straight solid season. Johan Oviedo is posting passable results behind him. 43-year-old Rich Hill could be traded this summer but is an impending free agent even if he doesn’t get moved. Other options like Osvaldo Bido, Luis Ortiz and Roansy Contreras have shown some encouraging signs at times but are still question marks right now, as in Quinn Priester, who was just promoted to make his debut in recent days. Mike Burrows was considered one of the club’s better pitching prospects coming into the year but required Tommy John surgery in April.

Baseball America has already updated its top 100 prospects lists after the draft and has Skenes #5 across the entire league. Skenes was the first #1 pick in MLB’s new lottery era, which was just implemented for this draft. The Pirates got the #1 selection despite the Nationals and A’s having slightly worse records in 2022.

Pirates Designate Travis Swaggerty For Assignment

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The Pirates announced several roster moves today, selecting the contract of right-hander Quinn Priester and recalling prospects Endy Rodríguez and Liover Peguero, moves which were reported on over the weekend. In corresponding moves, they optioned catcher Jason Delay, right-hander Cody Bolton and outfielder Josh Palacios. In order to open a 40-man roster spot for Priester, outfielder Travis Swaggerty was designated for assignment.

Swaggerty, 25, was the club’s first round draft pick in 2018, getting selected with the 10th overall pick. He was considered one of their top prospects during his time in the minors but encountered some obstacles on his path to the majors. He suffered a dislocated shoulder in 2021 that required surgery, limiting him to 12 games that year. When combined with the minor leagues being cancelled by the pandemic in 2020, he essentially missed two whole years of normal development.

Those setbacks aside, the club still didn’t want to risk losing him in the 2021 Rule 5 draft and gave him a 40-man roster spot that November. He was able to make his major league debut last year but took just nine trips to the plate in five games. He spent most of the year in Triple-A, hitting .254/.348/.399 at that level for a wRC+ of 102.

Here in 2023, Swaggerty has spent the entire year in the minors but has only been able to play 22 games. A report from Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from last month detailed how Swaggerty has been battling vertigo and migraines while his wife Peyton has been dealing with a rare and painful blood disease caused by a bite from a rabid raccoon. Swaggerty has made frequent trips to the IL in the minors this year, having played in just one game in the past six weeks.

The Bucs have fully embraced their youth movement this year, calling up Priester, Rodríguez and Peguero today, in addition to recent promotions of players like Henry Davis, Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales. The unfortunate side effect of those aggressive promotions is that they will bump Swaggerty off the roster.

They will now have one week to trade the young outfielder or pass him through waivers. It will be interesting to see how much interest he will receive from other clubs around the league. On the one hand, he’s a former first-round pick and was a notable prospect not too long ago. But he’s faced so many difficulties and hasn’t seemed to be in peak form in quite a while. He does have two option years, one of which he’s burning here in 2023. If some club thinks they can help him figure out the migraine issues and get him back on track, he can still be sent to the minors for another season.

Pirates To Promote Endy Rodriguez, Liover Peguero

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The Pirates are continuing to dip into the upper tier of their prospect base, as both catcher Endy Rodriguez and middle infielder Liover Peguero are being called up from Triple-A, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links).  Rodriguez will be set to make his MLB debut, while Peguero is getting another look after appearing in a single game with the Pirates last season.

Rodriguez was a consensus top-55 prospect in preseason rankings from Baseball America (who had him 23rd), The Athletic’s Keith Law (34th) and MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus (55th).  In updated midseason rankings, BA has now dropped Rodriguez to 55th while Pipeline has elevated him up to 34th, which perhaps speaks more to the methodology of each list — for instance, Baseball America has already incorporated picks from the 2023 draft class into their rankings.

Regardless, Rodriguez’s first full year at Triple-A hasn’t been the full-fledged breakout that the Pirates would’ve preferred to see, even though the team has opted to give the call to the 23-year-old.  Rodriguez has hit .268/.356/.415 with six homers over 315 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis, with a slow start dampening his numbers.  The last month has been a lot better for Rodriguez, however, as he has a .986 OPS over his last 93 PA, with more walks (13) than strikeouts (11).

This hot streak will now carry Rodriguez into the Show, and he’ll join fellow prospect Quinn Priester in what will likely be a dual debut on Monday, as Priester is already set to start against the Guardians.  Between Rodriguez, Priester, and Henry Davis and Nick Gonzales already called up earlier this season, Pittsburgh’s youth movement is in full effect, and the remaining months of the 2023 campaign will provide an intriguing glimpse at what the Bucs hope is a future championship core.

Originally an international signing for the Mets, Rodriguez came to Pittsburgh as part of the three-team trade in January 2021 that sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres and Joey Lucchesi to New York.  That swap has already been very beneficial for the Pirates in the form of star closer David Bednar, and if Rodriguez lives up to his prospect potential, the trade may be seen as one of the key building blocks of the franchise’s rebuild.  Rodriguez was starting to hit in rookie ball even before the canceled 2020 minor league season, and his continued success led to a quick rise through three different levels of Pittsburgh’s farm system in 2022.

Rodriguez has displayed a knack for contact hitting and for getting on base throughout his minor league career, though his Isolated Power number has taken a notable drop in 2023.  Even if he’ll have to work on that extra pop against big league pitching, Rodriguez’s switch-hitting profile is particularly promising from the catcher position.

It has become increasingly clear this season that the Pirates indeed view Rodriguez as a catcher, as he has played almost all of his Triple-A games behind the plate (with eight appearances at first base).  Rodriguez had previously been deployed as a second baseman, left fielder, and right fielder earlier in his minor league career, as the Pirates explored how to best utilize Rodriguez’s athleticism, and also how to juggle playing time for Davis as a possible catcher of the future.

Since Davis has almost entirely been a right fielder during his brief time in the majors, it would seem like Pittsburgh’s plan is for Rodriguez to be a primary catcher and for Davis to be perhaps something of an overqualified backup — playing mostly every day in the outfield but also getting some occasional reps at catcher.  Defensive specialist Austin Hedges figures to still be in the mix for playing time and as a veteran mentor to Rodriguez and Davis, while current backup catcher Jason Delay might be something of an odd man out.

The 22-year-old Peguero is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the seventh-best prospect in the Pirates’ farm system, and he drew top-100 attention from Pipeline, BA, and Prospectus prior to the 2022 campaign.  Peguero had an uninspiring season at Double-A last year that still resulted in his one-game MLB debut, and thus far in 2023, he hit well enough in more Double-A action (.260/.333/.453 in 318 PA) to merit a promotion to Triple-A.  Now, the Bucs are making another aggressive call-up, as Peguero is headed back to the majors after only seven games in Indianapolis.

Known for his excellent speed and throwing arm, Peguero might have a future at shortstop, though Oneil Cruz will have first dibs on the position once he returns from the 60-day injured list.  Peguero and Gonzales figure to work as the Pirates’ middle infield duo until Cruz is healthy, and possibly into the future if or when the club makes a decision about Cruz’s defensive future.

NL Central Notes: McCutchen, Anderson, Swanson

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The Pirates announced this morning that they had activated veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Rodolfo Castro was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

McCutchen’s return should help to boost a Pirates offense that desperately needs a spark. After a hot 20-8 start to open the season, the club has cratered to a 41-51 record that puts in fourth place in the NL Central, 9.5 games back of the division-leading Brewers. That free-fall in the standings can be primarily attributed to an offense that ranks dead last in the majors since May 1 with a wRC+ of just 79, 21% below league average. As the team’s offense has slumped, McCutchen has maintained solid production with a .275/.399/.398 slash line in 208 plate appearances since the start of May.

While McCutchen’s steady veteran presence and an injection of youth from the likes of Henry Davis and Nick Gonzales have helped to steady the club’s offense somewhat, the Pirates will need improved performance from star outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who has slashed just .150/.209/.250 since returning from low back inflammation earlier this month. That performance has dropped his drop his wRC+ to just 109 this season, a far cry from the 133 wRC+ he offered the past two seasons.

More from around the NL Central…

  • The Brewers announced today that they had placed third baseman Brian Anderson on the 10-day IL with a low back strain. It’s been a difficult season for Anderson as the 30 year old has slashed just .229/.317/.373 with a wRC+ of 90 in 85 games this season while acting as Milwaukee’s primary third baseman. Replacing Anderson on the roster is infielder Jahmai Jones, who kicked his Brewers career off by going 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base in five trips to the plate after signing with the club on a major league deal earlier this month. Infielder Andruw Monasterio figures to handle the hot corner while Anderson is on the shelf, with Jones sliding into Monasterio’s typical utility role.
  • Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson is eligible to come off the IL for the first time today after suffering a left heel contusion just before the All-Star break. That being said, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma relays that manager David Ross expects Swanson to be out for a least a little while longer. According to Ross, while Swanson’s heel improved over the break, he still is feeling “some pain” when running the bases. While Swanson is on the shelf, Nico Hoerner has slid from second base to shortstop, opening up the keystone for Christopher Morel.
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