Pirates Rumors

MLBTR Podcast: Final Days In Oakland, The Surging Tigers, And If The Nats Will Pursue Soto

By Darragh McDonald | September 25, 2024 at 10:06am CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

The final games in Oakland for the Athletics (2:25)
The Tigers have climbed back into the postseason race and have promoted Jackson Jobe (5:40)
The Nationals are looking for middle-of-the-order bats and maybe Juan Soto could be one of them (16:15)
The Reds fired manager David Bell (26:45)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

What will the Yankees’ backup plan be if they don’t re-sign Juan Soto? (30:20)
Do you see the Pirates making any significant off season moves to put a good offense around Paul Skenes and Jared Jones? (39:30)
Which three teams will be the most interested in signing Willy Adames? Could he command $100MM over 4 years? (46:10)

Check out our past episodes!

The Matt Chapman Negotiations, Dodgers’ Pitching Injuries, And Strengths And Weaknesses Of Playoff Contenders – listen here
Matt Chapman’s Extension, Star Prospect Promotions, Bo Bichette’s Future In Toronto – listen here
Royals’ Reinforcements, Promoted Angels, And The Terrible White Sox – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Pirates Outright Jake Woodford

By Darragh McDonald | September 23, 2024 at 11:35am CDT

Sept. 23: Woodford passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the transaction log at MLB.com.

Sept. 19: The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Isaac Mattson. Fellow righty Jake Woodford has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The 40-man roster remains full.

Woodford was just selected to the roster yesterday and it seems the plan was simply for him to make a spot start as the club plays out the string on the 2024 season. He took the ball against his former club the Cardinals yesterday, tossing 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five hitters and didn’t issue a walk, but he allowed four earned runs on eight hits, including a home run.

The righty was also on Pittsburgh’s roster earlier in the year but without much success. He now has a 7.97 earned run average through 35 innings on the year. That’s surely a bit misleading as his 44.6% strand rate is well below league average, but he’s also not doing himself favors with his 15.6% strikeout rate and 35.2% ground ball rate.

He’s been able to work around the lack of strikeouts in the past. He tossed 116 innings as a swingman for the Cards over 2021 and 2022, posting a 3.26 ERA. He only punched out 15.4% of opponents but also kept the ball on the ground 45.8% of the time. His ERA jumped to 6.23 last year due to a home run spike, which led the Cards to non-tender him.

The Bucs will put him on waivers in the coming days, as they did in late August. At that time, he cleared waivers, elected free agency and then re-signed on a fresh minor league deal. With so little of the 2024 season remaining, it’s possible he goes unclaimed and goes into offseason mode slightly ahead of schedule.

Mattson, 29, will take Woodford’s place and return to the big leagues for the first time since 2021. He made four appearances for the Orioles that year, allowing three earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, which is the total of his major league experience thus far.

He signed a minor league deal with the Pirates coming into 2024 and has had a solid year on the farm. He has thrown 71 innings between Double-A and Triple-A with a 3.17 ERA and 29.8% strikeout rate, though the 12.7% walk rate is on the high side.

He’ll give the Bucs a fresh arm for the bullpen as they finish out the season. He has a couple of options remaining and just a few days of service time, so he can theoretically be retained well into the future, though he would have to hold onto his roster spot throughout the club’s offseason transactions.

Pirates Select Jake Woodford

By Anthony Franco | September 18, 2024 at 5:35pm CDT

September 18: The Bucs have now made it official. Right-hander Kyle Nicolas has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to September 17, with a left oblique strain. That opens an active roster spot. Righty Ben Heller has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot. Heller landed on the 15-day IL August 30 due to right shoulder inflammation, so his season is over.

September 17: The Pirates will promote right-hander Jake Woodford to start tomorrow’s game in St. Louis, reports Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (X link). He’s on a minor league contract, so the Bucs need to select him onto the 40-man roster.

It’ll be Woodford’s second stint with the Bucs and his third appearance in the majors this season. The 27-year-old began the season with the White Sox, allowing 10 runs in 8 1/3 innings. He had a longer leash with Pittsburgh but continued to struggle. Woodford pitched to a 6.95 ERA across 22 frames before the Pirates designated him for assignment at the end of August.

This will be Woodford’s first appearance against the Cardinals. He’d played with St. Louis for his entire career until this season. The 39th overall pick of the 2015 draft, he pitched 184 2/3 innings over four MLB campaigns with the Cards. Woodford managed a respectable 4.29 earned run average overall, but he struggled to a 6.23 mark across 47 2/3 innings last season. The Cardinals non-tendered him as a result.

Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster is at capacity, so they’ll need to make a corresponding move tomorrow. Woodford is out of options and cannot be sent back to the minors without going on waivers. There’s a good chance the Bucs take him off the 40-man roster early in the offseason even if he sticks in the majors for the final two weeks of the regular season.

Pirates Promote Nick Yorke

By Darragh McDonald | September 16, 2024 at 3:30pm CDT

3:30pm: The Bucs have made it official, announcing that Yorke has been selected to the roster with Williams optioned in a corresponding move.

3:10pm: The Pirates are promoting infield prospect Nick Yorke, according to Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on X. Yorke is not yet on the club’s 40-man roster, but the Bucs already have a vacancy there, so they will only need to make a corresponding active roster move.

Yorke, 22, hasn’t been in Pittsburgh’s system for very long. He was drafted by the Red Sox in 2020, going 17th overall, but came to the Bucs via a rare one-for-one swap of young and controllable players. The Pirates sent right-hander Quinn Priester to Boston straight up for Yorke in a July trade.

The road to the big leagues has been a bit up-and-down for Yorke. It started with a bang in 2021, as he performed well in 97 games between Single-A and High-A. He hit 14 home runs and stole 13 bases in that time. He drew walks at an 11.8% clip while limiting his strikeouts to a low rate of 15.6%. His combined line of .325/.412/.516 led to a wRC+ of 149.

There were questions about his defense but that offensive performance vaulted him onto top prospect lists. Going into 2022, Baseball America ranked him #31 in the league, though a downturn in Yorke’s performance would follow. He was returned to High-A and only got into 80 games, battling injuries such as turf toe as well as back and wrist soreness. When on the field, his results were noticeably worse. His walk rate fell to 8.8%, his strikeout rate jumped to 25.2% and he slashed .231/.303/.365 for a wRC+ of 84.

He fell off top 100 lists after that season and hasn’t quite been able to get back, despite some improved results in subsequent seasons. He was promoted to Double-A last year and played in 110 games, slashing .268/.350/.435 for a 116 wRC+. His strikeout rate stayed a bit high at 24.1% but he drew walks 10.1% of the time, hit 13 homers and stole 18 bases.

Here in 2024, Yorke has been having another good year. He started out back at Double-A and was decent, slashing .251/.325/.366 for a 101 wRC+ in 45 games. The Sox then promoted him to Triple-A, when he got into a good groove, slashing .310/.408/.490 in 38 games for a 138 wRC+.

It was then that he was flipped to the Bucs, perhaps due to a change in the front office. Yorke was drafted during the tenure of chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who had been fired and replaced by Craig Breslow. Perhaps Breslow wasn’t as enamored of Yorke as his predecessor and considered him expendable, though that’s entirely speculative.

Either way, Yorke has kept hitting with his new club. In 40 Triple-A games since the deal, he has hit .355/.431/.507 for a wRC+ of 147. The deal doesn’t look great for the Sox so far, as Priester has a 5.67 ERA in eight Triple-A starts since being swapped, though that’s a very small sample size with plenty of time for the narrative to flip. Yorke had a .364 batting average on balls in play at the Triple-A level prior to being traded and a .441 BABIP since, so it wouldn’t be fair to expect him to continue hitting quite this well in the majors.

Nonetheless, it’s possible that Yorke could be a key contributor for the Bucs. He has played some third base, shortstop and outfield, but his primary position is second base, which has been a revolving door for the Pirates lately. The Bucs have used Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo, Alika Williams and Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the keystone this year, with none of them locking down the position.

Kiner-Falefa has been playing shortstop lately with Oneil Cruz moved to center field, while Triolo has been covering third base for the injured Ke’Bryan Hayes. Gonzales has been the regular at second base recently but he has a .267/.305/.377 batting line this year for a 91 wRC+ while getting mixed reviews for his defense.

The Pirates are 71-78 and out of contention, so they will use the final two weeks of the regular season to get a look at Yorke and see how he fares against big league pitching. Going into the winter, they will have to decide how they feel about their infield mix. Second base would be one of the clearest areas to upgrade in the offseason but Yorke could perhaps change their thinking if he seems like an immediate solution. Triolo has also been playing better of late, with a .237/.356/.404 line and 115 wRC+ in the second half.

Each of these infielders can play multiple positions, so that can give the Bucs some creativity in movings things around for the remainder of the season and in the future. For now, Yorke can make his major league debut and get a taste of the big leagues before the winter comes.

NL Central Notes: Hudson, Steele, Cruz

By Leo Morgenstern | September 15, 2024 at 7:11pm CDT

For most of the 2024 season, Bryan Hudson was one of the most effective relievers in the major leagues. Out of 58 relievers who have thrown at least 60 innings this year, his 1.73 ERA ranks fifth. However, since September 3, Hudson has been pitching not for the Milwaukee Brewers but for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.

According to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Brewers decided to option Hudson to Triple-A due to concerns about his velocity and durability. The left-hander suffered a minor oblique strain at the of July and came back in mid-August. While his surface-level numbers remained impressive upon his return (2.13 ERA in 12 2/3 IP), his velocity was noticeably lower on all three of his pitches. What’s more, his strikeout rate dropped, his walk rate rose, and his 4.38 SIERA was significantly higher than his 2.98 SIERA pre-injury.

Thus, with the Brewers sitting comfortably atop the NL Central standings, it made sense to send Hudson to the minors, where he could rest up and work on his stuff away from the pressure of the show. He has made just two outings so far for the Sounds, tossing a couple of scoreless innings with four strikeouts, two hits, and no walks allowed. His fastball velocity is still down compared to where it was earlier in the season, but it’s been a little better than it was in his last few outings before his demotion. Perhaps more importantly, his fastball velocity was higher in his second Triple-A outing this month than it was in his first.

It’s unclear if the Brewers are planning to recall Hudson anytime soon, but manager Pat Murphy suggested the 27-year-old will be back in Milwaukee eventually. As Hogg reports, Murphy is “pleased” with what Hudson has accomplished in Nashville, and there’s nothing more he needs to prove. The skipper didn’t provide a timeline for Hudson to get back in the Brewers’ bullpen, but he implied that a return was on the horizon, saying “I think you’ll see him again.”

The Nashville Sounds’ season ends next Sunday. If the Brewers are hoping to have Hudson for the postseason, it would make sense to call him up once the Triple-A campaign comes to a close. That would give him a week to reacclimate to big league competition before October.

Pirates Plan To Discuss Contract With McCutchen After The Season

By Anthony Franco | September 11, 2024 at 11:16pm CDT

While Andrew McCutchen is a few weeks from free agency, it seems inevitable that he’ll re-sign with the Pirates. The franchise legend has made clear on multiple occasions that he intends to finish his career in Pittsburgh. The Bucs have reciprocated that interest.

Comments this week from both McCutchen and general manager Ben Cherington point toward the former MVP eventually returning for a 12th season. In June, the 37-year-old told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette he planned to continue playing. McCutchen restated those intentions in a chat with the beat on Tuesday (link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). This morning, Cherington confirmed the Pirates hope to keep him around.

“He’s proving again this year that he can hit and hit at a level that helps us win games,” the GM told reporters (link via Noah Hiles of the Post-Gazette). “I would just repeat what I said before. We would love to find a way for Andrew to finish his career in a Pirates uniform. Glad he feels good, feels like he can still do that and still play. As I did last year, as we get to the end of the season, we’ll have a conversation with Andrew after the season’s over.”

This is indeed how things played out last fall. McCutchen had returned to Pittsburgh on a one-year deal over the 2022-23 offseason. In early October, Cherington said the sides would talk about a new contract over the winter. It took until December, but the parties eventually hammered out a $5MM deal for 2024.

As he did in 2023, Cutch has performed well offensively. He’s reached the 20-homer threshold for the first time in three seasons. He’s hitting .241/.338/.432 in 470 plate appearances. His strikeout and walk rates have each gone in the wrong direction, but he’s hitting for more power than he did last season.

By measure of wRC+, McCutchen has been 14 percentage points above league average offensively for a second straight year. That’s second on the team behind Bryan Reynolds among those with 300+ plate appearances. Reynolds, McCutchen, Oneil Cruz and Joey Bart (the latter of whom has 232 PAs) have been the only above-average hitters in the Pittsburgh lineup.

The five-time All-Star is almost exclusively a designated hitter. McCutchen has started two games in right field. His 102 other appearances have come as a DH. That limits the team’s flexibility. McCutchen is fifth in MLB in plate appearances as a designated hitter. The four players ahead of him — Shohei Ohtani, Marcell Ozuna, Kyle Schwarber and Brent Rooker — have each hit 30+ homers. McCutchen isn’t going to provide that level of production at this stage of his career, but he’s still one of the more potent bats in a Pittsburgh lineup that needs to be more effective. There’s a simple case for bringing him back even before considering McCutchen’s locker room presence and his iconic status within the organization.

It’d likely be another one-year deal. McCutchen has signed for $5MM in each of the last two offseasons. He’d be justified in seeking a modest pay bump this time around. When he signed after the 2022 season, he was coming off the only below-average offensive showing of his career. He’d bounced back last year, but the reunion was cut short by a partial tear of his left Achilles in September. He’s trending towards a healthy finish in 2024. That could push his salary up by a couple million dollars, though it’s fair to assume he’s more concerned with staying in Pittsburgh than he is about maximizing his earning power.

Cherington: Derek Shelton Expected To Return As Pirates’ Manager In 2025

By Steve Adams | September 11, 2024 at 10:36am CDT

The Pirates’ fall both in the NL Central and the NL Wild Card hunt has prompted plenty of speculation about the job security of manager Derek Shelton, but general manager Ben Cherington told the team’s beat today that he feels Shelton is the “right person to manage this team in 2025” and said he expects Shelton will return next season (X link via Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Shelton initially signed a four-year deal spanning the 2020-23 seasons and was extended early in the ’23 campaign.

It’s the second straight year in which the Pirates have shown signs of getting back into contention in the NL Central, only to fade in significant fashion. The ’23 Pirates got out to one of the hottest starts of any club in baseball but wilted as the season wore on. This year’s club rebounded from a slow start with a hot summer showing, going 29-22 in June and July to position themselves as a Wild Card contender. Cherington added Bryan De La Cruz, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jalen Beeks at the deadline in hopes of sparking a postseason push for his club, but the Bucs responded with a disastrous 8-19 record in August, tanking their playoff hopes. They’re currently 69-76, sitting last place in the division.

Shelton, 54, is in his fifth season managing the Pirates. They’ve yet to produce a winning record or finish better than fourth in the division under his watch, although as is the case with any manager of a rebuilding club, that’s hardly a reflection of his effectiveness. The Pirates tore down much of the roster and embarked on a lengthy rebuilding effort when Cherington was hired, and Shelton has rarely been given the makings of a competitive big league roster. That said, the Buccos have had a better foundation recently — certainly this season, with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones arriving on the scene — but have yet to consistently look like a well-rounded club.

Starting pitching is the organization’s strength, with Skenes, Jones and Mitch Keller comprising a strong trio atop the rotation. But many of the Pirates’ most touted young hitters have failed to progress as hoped — whether that be third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who’s declined at the plate amid a series of back injuries, or former No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis, who’s mashed in Triple-A but has yet to carry that production to the majors. Pittsburgh’s bullpen was also touted by Cherington as a potential strength heading into the season but has generally floundered this season, thanks in large part to a surprising step back from former All-Star closer and Pittsburgh native David Bednar.

Bolstering the lineup and improving the bullpen figure to be focal points for the front office this offseason, although perennially frugal owner Bob Nutting isn’t likely to give Cherington & Co. much to work with in terms of financial resources. That’ll only increase the importance of extracting the most from their in-house young talents. Given some of the myriad struggles up and down the roster, it’s plenty feasible that there’ll be changes made to Shelton’s coaching staff. Barring a turnaround next season, it also stands to reason that Shelton himself could be on thin ice sooner than later.

It’s at least anecdotally notable that Shelton’s predecessor, Clint Hurdle, publicly stated late in the 2019 season that he’d been told he’d return for the 2020 season — only to be fired a matter of days later. This situation isn’t exactly analogous, as it’s the general manager and not Shelton himself making this statement. Cherington’s comment does stop short of firmly declaring that Shelton will be retained, which technically leaves the door cracked for owner Bob Nutting to step in and make a change, but the overwhelming likelihood is now that Shelton will get a sixth go at helming the ship and trying to steer the Pirates into a legitimate postseason contender.

Pirates Outright Billy McKinney

By Steve Adams | September 9, 2024 at 9:23am CDT

Sept. 9: McKinney went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis, per the Pirates’ transaction log at MLB.com. He can either elect free agency now or accept the assignment and become a minor league free agent at season’s end.

Sept. 6: The Pirates designated outfielder Billy McKinney for assignment Friday, per a team announcement. His spot on the roster will go to catcher Joey Bart, who’s been reinstated from the injured list.

McKinney was traded from the Yankees to the Pirates over the winter in exchange for international bonus pool space. He’s spent the bulk of the season with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate where he’s missed time with injury but posted a sound .295/.396/.450 batting line in 154 plate appearances when healthy. Pittsburgh selected him to the 40-man roster late last month, and he’s appeared in 10 games, hitting .200/.286/.240 in that small sample.

A 2013 first-round pick by the A’s, McKinney has found himself involved in plenty of notable trades over the years. He went from Oakland to the Cubs as part of the Jeff Samardzija trade in 2014, then was flipped from Chicago to New York as part of the 2016 Aroldis Chapman blockbuster. The Yankees eventually traded McKinney to Toronto as part of their deal for veteran lefty J.A. Happ.

McKinney has gotten looks with seven different big league organizations but never topped 276 plate appearances in a single big league season with one team. He’s played in 321 MLB games and picked up 943 plate appearances, batting .209/.284/.386 in that time. The former top prospect has appeared in parts of seven Triple-A seasons and slashed .274/.359/.504 with 56 homers in 1304 plate appearances at that level.

Pirates Select Billy Cook; Place Henry Davis On 10-Day Injured List

By Nick Deeds | September 8, 2024 at 11:48am CDT

The Pirates announced today that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Billy Cook. In a corresponding move, catcher Henry Davis was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his left hand. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39. Additionally, the club announced that right-hander Domingo German has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A.

Cook, 25, was a tenth-round pick by the Orioles in the 2021 draft. Cook was a relatively fast riser with the Orioles and made it to Triple-A earlier this year. The outfielder performed admirably with a .279/.372/.485 slash line in 304 trips to the plate with the club’s affiliate in Norfolk. Cook was dealt to the Pirates in a swap on the day of the trade deadline, with Pittsburgh sending minor league right-hander Patrick Reilly to Baltimore in exchange for Cook’s services. Since joining the Pirates organization, Cook has picked up right where he left off at Triple-A Indianapolis with a .276/.389/.486 slash line in 30 games.

That’s clearly enough for the club’s brass to decide the youngster ought to be given a shot in Pittsburgh. Oneil Cruz’s recent move to center field leaves the Pirates with regular starters at each outfield position for the moment, as Cruz is flanked by Bryan Reynolds and Bryan De La Cruz in the outfield corners while Connor Joe and Michael A. Taylor both also mix in on a fairly regular basis. It’s an open question, then, whether Cook will be able to find much playing time on the club’s roster as things stand. That being said, however, Cook also has experience at both first and second base that could allow him to find more playing time. He could mix in alongside Joe and Rowdy Tellez at first base while also offering Nick Gonzales an occasional day off at the keystone.

Making room for Cook on the active roster is Davis, the first overall pick from the 2021 draft. The top prospect made his big league debut last year but has struggled to establish himself in the big leagues to this point in his career with a .191/.283/.307 slash line in 99 games across the past two seasons where he’s split time between the outfield and catcher. Now, he’s headed to the injured list for the second time this year, following up a stint on the concussion IL back in June.

This time, Davis is dealing with hand inflammation, though the severity of the issue is not yet clear. With the end of the regular season just three weeks away and the Pirates all but eliminated from playoff contention, a stint on the shelf that extends beyond the minimum ten days could spell the end of his season even if the issue isn’t especially serious. With Davis out of action, the club figures to rely on a tandem of Joey Bart and Yasmani Grandal behind the plate in the season’s final weeks.

As for German, the right-hander signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal earlier this year and made seven appearances for the club, two of which were starts. Those outings did not go especially well, however, as German was lit up for 19 runs (18 earned) in just 20 2/3 innings of work. In all, he’s posted a 7.84 ERA, 6.13 FIP, and 18% strikeout rate during his time with the big league Pirates this year. Now back in Triple-A, German figures to serve as non-roster depth for the club’s pitching staff for the remainder of the season before likely trying his luck in minor league free agency this winter.

Pirates Designate Domingo Germán For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | September 5, 2024 at 5:25pm CDT

The Pirates announced that left-hander Joey Wentz, whom they claimed off waivers earlier this week, has been added to the active roster. Right-hander Domingo Germán has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Prior to the official announcement, Robert Murray of FanSided relayed on X that Germán would be designated for assignment. Earlier in the day, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was among those to relay on X that Wentz was in the clubhouse while Germán was leaving in street clothes.

Germán, 32, has spent most of this year with Triple-A Indianapolis. He signed a minor league deal with the Bucs in the offseason, opting out of that deal in July before quickly re-signing a fresh minor league pact. His results with that club were mediocre, as he made 13 starts with a 5.29 earned run average. He struck out 21.9% of batters faced and gave out walks at a 10.3% clip.

The Pirates selected him to the big league roster just under a month ago and have been using him in a swing role. He has made seven appearances, including two starts, with a 7.84 ERA, 18% strikeout rate and 13% walk rate. He started against the Cubs yesterday but allowed six earned runs in three innings, seemingly wearing out his welcome on the Pittsburgh roster.

Germán will be placed on waivers in the coming days. Since he has had to settle for minor league deals lately and didn’t get good results when given a chance, it seems fair to expect him to go unclaimed. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, so he might be on the open market again shortly.

He has had some good results in his career, including pitching MLB’s 24th perfect game in June of last year, but has also has plenty of on-field and off-field issues. While with the Yankees, he was placed on administrative leave in September of 2019 and eventually received an 81-game domestic violence suspension. Last year, before that perfect game, he received a foreign substance suspension. He eventually finished the year on the restricted list while getting treatment for alcohol abuse, following a reported confrontation in which he argued with people in the Yankee clubhouse before flipping a couch.

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