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Pirates Outright Cal Mitchell

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The Pirates sent outfielder Cal Mitchell outright to Triple-A Indianapolis this afternoon, tweets Justice delos Santos of MLB.com. He cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.

Mitchell and Yohan Ramirez were each DFA last Friday. Ramirez was claimed by the White Sox this afternoon. Mitchell went unclaimed and will stick in the organization. Since this is his first career outright and he has under three years of major league service, he doesn’t have the ability to decline the assignment.

A second round pick in 2017, Mitchell attracted some prospect attention throughout his time in Pittsburgh’s system. He performed reasonably well through Double-A before raking at a .339/.391/.547 clip in 63 Triple-A contests a year ago. That earned him a major league look in late May, but Mitchell didn’t found much success against big league pitching.

Over 232 trips to the dish, the lefty-swinging outfielder put up a .226/.286/.349 line. As a result, Mitchell has spent almost all of 2023 in Indianapolis. He hasn’t recaptured last year’s success at that level. He’s hitting .264/.338/.426 while striking out at a lofty 29.3% clip through 300 plate appearances. That eventually squeezed him off the roster.

Mitchell will try to work his way back onto the 40-man over the last month of the season. He’d qualify for minor league free agency at the beginning of the offseason if the Bucs don’t reselect his contract.

White Sox Claim Yohan Ramirez From Pirates

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The White Sox announced that they have claimed right-hander Yohan Ramirez off waivers from the Pirates. The righty will report to Triple-A Charlotte, per Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Chicago’s 40-man roster count is now at 39.

Ramirez, 28, has generally combined high strikeout and ground ball tallies in his career while also giving out his fair share of walks. In 34 1/3 innings for the Pirates this year, he had a 3.67 earned run average, striking out 20% of batters faced while walking 9% and keeping the ball on the ground at a 59% clip. In 22 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level, he had a 4.43 ERA, 33% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 54.2% ground ball rate.

The Bucs designated him for assignment last week to make room on the roster for their September call-ups and the White Sox have decided to grab him. The latter club had a couple of open roster spots anyway, having recently bumped out-of-options players Seby Zavala and Brent Honeywell Jr. off their roster. They have used one of those open roster spot to grab an intriguing arm to add to their depth.

Ramirez is in his final option season, meaning the Sox can stash him at Charlotte for the rest of the year while they get a look at him, but he will be out of options next year. If he continues to hold onto his roster spot, he can be retained for four more seasons beyond the current campaign.

Pirates Designate Rob Zastryzny, Select Hunter Stratton

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The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Hunter Stratton from Triple-A Indianapolis, with left-hander Rob Zastryzny designated for assignment in a corresponding move.

Stratton, 26, was a 16th-round pick of the Pirates in the 2017 draft and has been working his way up to the majors since then. He generally posts high strikeout totals but with lots of walks as well, and that has continued to be the case this year. In 56 1/3 Triple-A innings this season, he has a 3.99 earned run average, striking out 30.6% of batters faced while giving out free passes at a 12.8% clip. He will now get a chance to get major league hitters out, making his big league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Zastryzny, 31, is designated for assignment by the Bucs for the second time this year. He signed a minor league deal with the club in the offseason and cracked the Opening Day roster. He was designated for assignment in July and accepted an outright assignment after clearing waivers. He was added back to the roster a couple of weeks ago but has lost his spot again. Between those two stints, he tossed 20 2/3 innings with a 4.79 ERA, 15.5% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate.

The club will place him back on waivers in the coming days. He’s out of options, so any claiming club would have to add him to their active roster. He has just over a year of service time, meaning he could be retained for five more seasons if any club were willing to give him that roster spot. But the last time he was put on waivers, he passed through and stuck with the Pirates, which could perhaps happen again in the days to come.

Pirates Designate Calvin Mitchell, Yohan Ramirez For Assignment

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The Pirates announced some roster moves today, including the previously-reported selection of Miguel Andujar. They also reinstated righty Carmen Mlodzinski from the 15-day injured list to take the second extra spot on today’s expanded roster. Additionally, right-hander Max Kranick was reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. To open spots on the 40-man for Andujar and Kranick, right-hander Yohan Ramirez and outfielder Calvin Mitchell were designated for assignment.

Mitchell, 24, was selected to the Pirates’ roster last year after a strong performance in Triple-A. He hit just .226/.286/.349 in his first 69 major league games and got optioned back down to the minors, but finished 2022 with a Triple-A batting line of .339/.391/.547. He’s only played two major league games this year, spending the majority of his season at Triple-A, where he’s had an unfortunate step back. He is hitting .264/.338/.426 for a wRC+ of 90 while striking out in 29.3% of his plate appearances, more than double the 14.6% rate he had in Triple-A last year.

Ramirez, 28, was acquired from the Guardians in a cash deal last summer. He had a tidy 1.25 earned run average through June 6 of this year but allowed 11 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings since then. In 22 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level this year, he has a 4.43 ERA. Control has generally been an issue for him, walking 12.5% of hitters in his major league career. He kept that to 9% in the majors this year but it’s been 12.4% in Triple-A.

The Bucs will place both players on waivers in the coming days. Mitchell is a former second-round pick who had a strong campaign last year. He still has another option year remaining after this one and less than a year of service time. Ramirez has been able to pair strikeouts with ground balls for much of his career but has struggled with the free passes. He can be optioned for the rest of this year but will be out of options next year. He can be retained for four seasons beyond this one but will have less roster maneuverability going forward.

Pirates To Select Miguel Andujar

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The Pirates are going to select infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar today, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He will take one of the spots on the expanded active roster but will need to be added to the 40-man.

Andujar, 28, got a brief stint with the Pirates earlier this year but hit just .161/.212/.387 in 13 games. He was designated for assignment in May and accepted an outright assignment. But both before and after that time in the majors, he has been crushing in Triple-A. In 102 games for Indianapolis this year, he’s hit 16 home runs and is slashing .341/.408/.541 for a wRC+ of 136. He has walked in 10.2% of his plate appearances while striking out at just an 11.7% rate.

He has had quite a few opportunities in the big leagues but hasn’t been able to capitalize on most of them. As a rookie third baseman with the Yankees in 2018, he hit .297/.328/.527 and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Shohei Ohtani. But shoulder surgery put him out of action for much of 2019, allowing Gio Urshela to have a breakout and take over the hot corner.

The Yanks then moved him around to first base and the outfield corners, but the past few years have been defined by tremendous Triple-A output and major league struggles. From 2020 to the present, he’s hit .318/.377/.525 on the farm but .237/.268/.354 in the big leagues.

For the Bucs, there’s little harm in giving him another chance to bring that excellent Triple-A production up a level. They are 61-73 and well out of contention. They traded away both Carlos Santana and Ji Man Choi prior to the deadline, leaving their first base spot somewhat open. Connor Joe is having a nice season at the plate but is a 31-year-old journeyman. Alfonso Rivas is also in the mix but is hitting just .197/.301/.394. In right field, Joshua Palacios is getting regular playing time but has a line of .210/.258/.370 this year.

The Pirates can surely find some at-bats for Andujar in there. If he finally has the major league breakout that has been hoped for in recent years, the club could benefit beyond this season. Andujar will finish this year between four and five years of service time, meaning he can be retained via arbitration for two more seasons.

Pirates Select Rob Zastryzny, Transfer Angel Perdomo To 60-Day IL

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The Pirates have selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Rob Zastryzny from Triple-A Indianapolis, the team has announced. To make room on the 26-man roster, they have optioned right-handed pitcher Yohan Ramirez to Triple-A. In addition, to open up a spot on the 40-man roster, left-hander Angel Perdomo has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Zastryzny, 31, signed a minor league deal with the Bucs in the offseason and cracked the Opening Day roster. He’s been on and off the roster since then, having twice landed on the injured list, once due to discomfort in his throwing elbow and another due to forearm inflammation. He made 18 appearances around those trips to the injured list with a 5.29 earned run average and was designated for assignment at the end of his second IL stint.

He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A. He has thrown 16 1/3 innings at that level this year with a 4.41 ERA but better peripherals. He has struck out 23.9% of opponents while issuing walks at a tiny 1.5% rate and keeping the ball on the ground at a 45.8% clip, leading to a 2.80 FIP at that level. That will get him another shot on the big league roster on a non-competitive Pirates club. He has between one and two years of service time, meaning he’s yet to reach arbitration and can be cheaply retained by the Bucs for future seasons, but he’s out of options and will need to stay on the active roster or else be removed from the 40-man again.

Perdomo, 29, landed on the injured list just a few days ago due to left elbow discomfort. The club hasn’t released any specifics on his condition but it seems it’s serious enough that they don’t expect him back this season, as this transfer eliminates any chance of him returning before the middle of October. He posted a 3.72 ERA in 29 innings this year, striking out 37.6% of hitters while walking 9.4%. Like Zastryzny, he has less than two years of service time and can be cheaply retained for next year if the Bucs so choose, but he’s also out of options.

Oneil Cruz Has “Plateaued” In Attempt To Rejoin Pirates

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Pirates shortstop Oneil Cruz has been on the injured list since undergoing left ankle surgery in early April, which came with an estimated recovery time of four months. That timeline has now elapsed but it doesn’t seem like he’s close to returning, which is starting to put his season in jeopardy.

The club’s director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk provided an update today, with Justice delos Santos of MLB.com and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relaying the details. Tomczyk said Cruz has “plateaued” and hasn’t been running for the past seven to ten days, still battling some general soreness in his leg. Regarding the infielder’s chances of returning later in the year, Tomczyk says “It’s tough to tell right now, but we are running out of days.”

Cruz, now 24, has flashed some elite tools in his time in the majors while also showcasing some concerning elements in his game. In 87 contests last year, his exit velocities, arm strength and sprint speed were all at or near the top of the charts in the league. But he also struck out in 34.9% of his plate appearances and got mixed reviews for his shortstop defense, with one Defensive Run Saved but -9 Outs Above Average and a grade of -7.5 from Ultimate Zone Rating. Given his youth and relative inexperience, the Pirates were surely hoping to give him plenty of reps in the majors in order to see how he developed, but it now appears that 2023 is going to go down as a mostly lost season.

The young shortstop played nine games to open the year but suffered a left ankle fracture when attempting to score in a game against the White Sox, colliding with catcher Seby Zavala. The news of his surgery and expected absence were a tough blow, but it has long been hoped that he could return and get some more major league action before the winter arrived.

Now it’s looking less and less likely that he will get that opportunity. Even if his leg pain suddenly evaporated in the next week or so, he would still need to ramp up and go on a rehab assignment, effective redoing Spring Training. Since that process would take a few weeks and there’s just over a month left on the schedule, it’s possible that window will close on him. That’s surely frustrating for him on a personal level but also deprives the Pirates of another chance to evaluate Cruz and his development before the offseason, a process that now seems to be getting kicked down the road to next year.

The Bucs showed some flashes of emerging from their rebuild earlier this year but faded from contention and are now 57-69. The Cruz situation will be a notable unknown going into next year, as it still hasn’t been determined whether he’s a viable big league shortstop or if he would be better served moving to another position. They have some other options on the roster but Cruz remains the one with the highest ceiling, giving his obvious athleticism.

With Cruz out, the club gave some significant shortstop time to players like Rodolfo Castro and Tucupita Marcano, but Castro has since been traded to the Phillies and Marcano is out for the year due to ACL surgery. More recently, youngsters Alika Williams and Liover Peguero have been getting some time there. Williams is hitting .230/.309/.295 in a small sample of 25 games while Peguero has hit .241/.305/.437 in 28 major league contests, including one last year.

Both Williams and Peguero will still be optionable next year, so it’s possible the Pirates could go into 2024 planning on having Cruz getting the regular reps with those two behind him on the depth chart, either in the minors or on the bench at the major league level. They could also supplement that group with an offseason trade or a signing, bringing in a veteran for some extra security. A sudden improvement in Cruz’s health in the next few weeks could change things but it seems like the Pirates will go into the winter essentially back to where they were at the start of the year, with an uncertain future outlook at the shortstop position.

Alex Cole Passes Away

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The Guardians announced that former big league outfielder Alex Cole recently passed away. He was 58 years old. The club also announced the passing of Dick Tomanek, who you can read about here.

Cole was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1965. He attended the State College of Florida and was selected by the Pirates in the 11th round of the 1984 draft but didn’t sign. The next year, the Cardinals took him in the second round and he put pen to paper this time around. He climbed the minor league ladder with the Cards but was twice traded in 1990, first going to the Padres and then the Indians.

It was with that latter club that he made his major league debut, getting into 63 games in that 1990 season. He didn’t show much power, not hitting any home runs in his 256 plate appearances that year. But he produced a batting average of .300 and stole 40 bases in just 63 games.

He carved out regular playing time in the seasons to come and generally produced in a similar fashion, not providing much power but using his speed to propel himself around the basepaths. He stayed in Cleveland in 1991 before being traded to the Pirates midway through the 1992 campaign. After that season, he was selected by the Rockies in the expansion draft, becoming an inaugural member of that franchise. He would eventually reach free agency, signing with the Twins for 1994-1995 and Red Sox for 1996, which would prove to be his last season in the big leagues.

Over parts of seven seasons, Cole got into 573 major league games and made 2,012 plate appearances. He batted .280 in that time, racking up 493 hits, including 58 doubles, 26 triples and five home runs. He stole 148 bases in 207 attempts. He scored 286 runs and drove in 117.

We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

IL Placements: Carlson, Almonte, Mlodzinski, Danner

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Dylan Carlson will miss at least the next “couple weeks” due to a left oblique strain, the Cardinals outfielder told MLB.com and other media today.  St. Louis placed Carlson on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to August 10) and called up Luken Baker as the roster replacement, giving Carlson some proper time off after he first suffered the injury on Wednesday.  Given the lingering nature of some oblique injuries and the fact that the Cardinals are out of contention, it isn’t out of the question that Carlson might have already played his last game of the 2023 season….or even his last game in a St. Louis uniform.

It looked like Carlson was a future cornerstone following his impressive 2021 rookie campaign, but he has followed up that seeming breakout year with pair of injury-marred, lackluster seasons.  Carlson has hit only .230/.316/.364 over 743 plate appearances since Opening Day 2022, and both his health issues and the lack of production have reduced his playing time in the Cardinals outfield.  While Carlson is arbitration-controlled through 2026 and was the subject of several trade rumors prior to the deadline, his subpar play has certainly lowered his trade value, so it remains to be seen if the Cardinals will sell low on him this winter as they look to both solve their outfield surplus and figure out how to get the team more broadly back on track after their disastrous year.

Catching up on other IL placements from Saturday…

  • The Dodgers placed right-hander Yency Almonte on the 15-day IL and called up southpaw Victor Gonzalez.  Almonte suffered a right knee sprain that forced him to make an early exit from Friday’s game, as he told reporters (including NBC Los Angeles’ Michael J. Duarte) that the injury was caused when his cleat got stuck on the mound.  Almonte’s struggles at limiting walks have resulted in a 5.06 ERA over 48 relief innings, though he had somewhat stabilized after a tough beginning to the season — a 9.00 ERA over his first 18 innings gave way to a 2.70 ERA over his last 30 frames of work.
  • The Pirates placed Carmen Mlodzinski on the 15-day IL (retroactive to August 10) due to right elbow soreness, while calling up right-hander Osvaldo Bido from Triple-A.  Mlodzinski made his MLB debut on June 16 and has an excellent 2.28 ERA over his first 23 2/3 innings in the Show.  The righty’s 4.74 SIERA is less inspiring, as Mlodzinski has thrived despite subpar strikeout (20.8%) and walk (12.9%) rates.
  • The Blue Jays placed right-hander Hagen Danner on the 15-day IL due to a left oblique strain, and Nate Pearson was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.  Danner made his MLB debut on Friday and retired the first batter he faced, yet then had to leave the game after getting injured while facing the second batter of his relief appearance.  The 24-year-old Danner had earned a look in the majors after posting a 3.81 ERA over 28 1/3 Triple-A innings this season, but it will be at least 15 days before he can get back onto the mound.

Pirates Sign Joe Perez To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have signed infielder Joe Perez to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’s been assigned to Double-A Altoona for now.

It’s something of a birthday present for Perez, who turns 24 years old today. He quickly finds himself a new job after being released by the Astros last week. He had been on their 40-man roster until they acquired Justin Verlander, which led to Perez being designated for assignment and clearing waivers.

The ’Stros selected him in the second round of the 2017 draft but injuries and the pandemic would limit his opportunities in the years to come. By the start of 2021, he had only played in 54 games as a professional. But 2021 was something of a breakout for him, as he was finally healthy and able to thrive. He hit 18 home runs in 106 games across three different levels, going from Single-A to High-A and Double-A. His .291/.354/.495 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 125.

The Astros added him to their 40-man roster that November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft and he went into 2022 considered the club’s #5 prospect at Baseball America and #8 at FanGraphs. He got the briefest of debuts in April of that year, striking out in one plate appearance before getting optioned back to the minors. Shortly thereafter, the injury bug bit him again, with an oblique strain putting him out of action for a couple of months. He was eventually able to get into 83 minor league games that year, hitting .290/.359/.417 for a wRC+ of 103.

Coming into this season, BA still had him ranked 13th in the Astros’ system but he hasn’t had a great year. His .255/.328/.399 Triple-A batting line amounts to a wRC+ of 74 in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. FanGraphs released their Astros prospect list in June and had Perez down at #36.

Despite his subpar results this year, it’s a sensible pickup for the Pirates. Perez is not too far removed from being a top 10 prospect with Houston and missed a lot of time due to injuries and the pandemic. He’s still young and could perhaps still develop with more reps. Defensively, he’s primarily been a third baseman but has also spent time at first, second and the outfield corners. If he is able to get a roster spot, he will still have one option year remaining after this one.

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