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Pirates Select Braxton Ashcraft, Tsung-Che Cheng

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The Pirates announced they’ve added right-hander Braxton Ashcraft and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng to the 40-man roster. Pittsburgh’s roster count now sits at 39.

Ashcraft, 24, was a second-round pick out of a Texas high school in 2018. The 6’5″ hurler has moved slowly through the minors. The canceled season cost him a development year in 2020. He subsequently underwent Tommy John surgery and barely pitched from 2021-22. Ashcraft returned to the mound this past season, logging 52 2/3 innings through 19 starts. He posted a 2.39 ERA while striking out just under 30% of opposing hitters against a tidy 5.2% walk rate.

Baseball America recently slotted Ashcraft as the #10 prospect in the Bucs’ system, praising a four-pitch arsenal. Cheng slotted just above him, ranking ninth on that list. A native of Taiwan, he’s a 5’7″ middle infielder. As one would expect given his size, the left-handed hitter draws more praise for his contact skills and athleticism than huge power upside. He split the season between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, faring far better at the former stop. Between the two affiliates, Cheng hit .278/.353/.456 with 12 homers and 26 stolen bases. He struck out just 18.7% of the time while drawing walks at a 9.7% clip.

Pirates’ Johan Oviedo Being Evaluated For Elbow Injury

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An already murky Pirates rotation mix is now facing even more uncertainty, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that righty Johan Oviedo is dealing with an arm injury that’s believed to be serious. The team hasn’t announced details or a precise diagnosis, but Mackey writes that Tommy John surgery is among the potential outcomes, so it would seem there’s some degree of ligament damage at play.

Oviedo, 25, came to the Pirates in the 2022 trade that sent lefty Jose Quintana to the division-rival Cardinals. Prior to the revelation of this injury, the righty had been locked into a 2024 rotation spot after taking the ball 32 times and pitching to a 4.31 ERA over the life of 177 2/3 innings. It’s hardly elite production, particularly when coupled with sub-par strikeout (20.6%) and walk (10.6%) rates, but Oviedo at least looked like a solid fourth starter who could be relied upon to take the ball every fifth game and keep his club in the game more often than not. Obviously, the mention of even potential Tommy John surgery throws a major wrench into that projection.

That’s particularly problematic news for a Pirates team that is generally lacking in established starters. Longtime top prospect Mitch Keller took a step forward in 2022-23 and is the unquestioned leader of the staff, but certainty thereafter is minimal. Right-hander Roansy Contreras took a step back in 2023, while fellow righty JT Brubaker had his own Tommy John surgery. Deadline pickup Bailey Falter has had some past success with the Phillies but struggled between both Pennsylvania clubs in 2023. Young right-handers Luis Ortiz and Quinn Priester each made at least 10 appearances, but neither cemented himself as a big leaguer. Alternative options like Osvaldo Bido, Jackson Wolf and Kyle Nicolas are similarly unproven.

General manager Ben Cherington has already stated publicly that his focus has been on starting pitching. Cherington presumably knew of Oviedo’s situation at the time of those comments, so this may not necessarily add any urgency to that search, but the revelation of Oviedo’s injury adds context for potential trade partners and agents as the Bucs explore ways to add to the rotation. With such ample uncertainty beyond Keller, it’d be fairly surprising if the Pirates didn’t add at least two arms to the rotation group for the upcoming season (to say nothing of veteran depth on minor league deals and some potential pickups of 40-man starters with minor league options remaining).

As things stand, the Pirates project for just a $53MM payroll in 2024, per Roster Resource. Even by their bottom-of-the-league standards, that leaves ample room for the team to add some experienced arms to the staff. Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are the only players under guaranteed contracts, while the quintet of Keller, Brubaker, Ryan Borucki, David Bednar and Connor Joe are eligible for arbitration. Pittsburgh’s franchise-record Opening Day payroll was just shy of $100MM back in 2016. They operated with a payroll a bit north of $70MM in 2023.

Oviedo isn’t even arbitration-eligible yet and won’t be until after the 2024 season. He’s currently under club control for another four years, so even in the event that Oviedo does require UCL surgery, the Bucs could potentially get another three years out of him (2025-27) before he reaches free agency.

Pirates Notes: Keller, Cruz

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  • The Pirates were known to have had some talks with Mitch Keller about a contract extension last May, and while no deal was hammered out, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that “talks gained traction during the middle of last season, though the up-and-down nature of performance mixed with business led both sides to press pause until the fall or winter.”  Keller had an overall solid 2023 season, but ran into a midseason slump with a 6.28 ERA over five starts in July.  The Bucs also received some trade interest in Keller leading up to the deadline, and while it didn’t seem like a deal was ever likely to happen, it makes sense that the Pirates didn’t want to lock themselves into an extension with Keller just in case another club came along with a blow-away offer.  Speaking with Mackey and other reporters at the GM Meetings, Bucs general manager Ben Cherington called Keller “one of the guys who checks a lot of boxes” and “a guy we would love to see in a Pirates uniform for a long time,” but unsurprisingly didn’t give any information on the status of any ongoing extension negotiations.
  • The Pirates were known to have had some talks with Mitch Keller about a contract extension last May, and while no deal was hammered out, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that “talks gained traction during the middle of last season, though the up-and-down nature of performance mixed with business led both sides to press pause until the fall or winter.”  Keller had an overall solid 2023 season, but ran into a midseason slump with a 6.28 ERA over five starts in July.  The Bucs also received some trade interest in Keller leading up to the deadline, and while it didn’t seem like a deal was ever likely to happen, it makes sense that the Pirates didn’t want to lock themselves into an extension with Keller just in case another club came along with a blow-away offer.  Speaking with Mackey and other reporters at the GM Meetings, Bucs general manager Ben Cherington called Keller “one of the guys who checks a lot of boxes” and “a guy we would love to see in a Pirates uniform for a long time,” but unsurprisingly didn’t give any information on the status of any ongoing extension negotiations.
  • Cherington did give an update on Oneil Cruz, who might play some winter ball in the Dominican Republic as a way of continuing his recovery from ankle surgery.  Cruz played in only nine games last season due to the April surgery, as continued soreness in his left leg prevented him from returning to action in September.  The good news is that Cruz has been participating in full baseball activities at the Pirates’ training camp, and he’ll be at least getting in some game action at the Pirates’ academy in the Dominican Republic, even if the winter ball assignment doesn’t happen.  Cherington still expects Cruz to be ready to go for Spring Training.

Cherington: Pirates Have Focused On Starting Pitching

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Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is among the many executives who spoke with the media at the GM Meetings this week. The fifth-year baseball operations leader indicated the rotation has been the focus in the early going.

“We’ve been mostly focused on starting pitching, both in free agency and trade,” Cherington said of the offseason’s first few days (link via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). “We would like to add to our position player group, too. But more of our energy has gone to the pitching market early on.”

Bringing in a starter or two seems an obvious goal for the front office. Pittsburgh had five starters log 50+ innings this past season. None had an ERA better than Mitch Keller’s 4.21 mark. Rich Hill was traded and is now a free agent. Roansy Contreras had a disastrous season that saw him optioned to the minors on a couple occasions. Luis Ortiz allowed nearly five earned runs per nine with almost as many walks as strikeouts.

Despite a disappointing second half, Keller has one rotation spot secure as the current staff ace. Johan Oviedo logged 177 2/3 innings over a full slate of 32 starts. The results — a 4.31 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout percentage and lofty 10.6% walk rate — were serviceable enough that Oviedo likely goes into Spring Training with a job in hand. JT Brubaker could return midseason after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April.

That still leaves multiple vacancies, as none of Quinn Priester, Bailey Falter nor Osvaldo Bido pitched well in smaller samples. No one will expect the Bucs to make a run at Blake Snell or Aaron Nola, but they have the payroll room to add a third or fourth tier free agent. Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes are the only two players with guaranteed contracts totaling a combined $17MM next season. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects the arbitration class to earn roughly $16MM. The Pirates opened 2023 with a player payroll around $73MM, as calculated by Cot’s Baseball Contracts.

Cherington and his group thus have the ability to consider mid-level free agent options like Seth Lugo, Jack Flaherty or Michael Wacha. If they prefer the one-year route — a tack they’ve taken in prior offseasons — someone like Wade Miley or Hyun Jin Ryu could be a possibility.

They’ll need to weigh any rotation investment against what they hope to accomplish on the position player side. Cherington said the club would like to add at first base. Pittsburgh traded Carlos Santana at the deadline and relied mostly on Connor Joe and Alfonso Rivas down the stretch. Joe’s production was mostly concentrated against left-handed pitching; Rivas was waived and lost to Cleveland.

With Santana back on the open market, a reunion could be an option. Brandon Belt, Rhys Hoskins and longtime division rival Joey Votto join him in the free agent class. Rowdy Tellez and Dominic Smith are non-tender candidates.

It seems first base is the most pressing infield need for the Bucs. Cherington expressed more confidence in their internal second base options, which are headlined by Ji Hwan Bae, Liover Peguero and Nick Gonzales. None of the group had much success this year — they were 26th in OPS at the position — but it doesn’t seem an addition is a priority, even if Cherington added that they’re “not ruling out adding someone.” A middling free agent market led by Whit Merrifield, Amed Rosario and Tim Anderson could play a role in that.

One free agent who seems likely to wind up in Pittsburgh is franchise icon Andrew McCutchen. The veteran outfielder has been clear about his desire to finish his career in the Steel City. Cherington has reciprocated that interest on multiple occasions, something he reiterated yesterday. The GM told reporters that he has had multiple conversations with McCutchen’s camp since the season ended (link via Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).

If McCutchen returns, he’d rejoin Reynolds and Henry Davis among the corner outfield/designated hitter options. Davis, a former #1 overall pick, saw the bulk of his time in right field as a rookie. Cherington stressed the organization still views the Louisville product as a viable option at catcher, though, even if their playing time share in 2023 suggested they viewed fellow first-year backstop Endy Rodríguez as a better defender behind the plate.

Braves Claim Angel Perdomo, Outright Jackson Stephens

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The Braves have claimed lefty reliever Angel Perdomo off waivers from the Pirates, according to an announcement from Pittsburgh. Atlanta reliever Jackson Stephens was outrighted from the 40-man roster and elected free agency in a corresponding move. Pittsburgh also announced that Yerry De Los Santos — previously reported as on waivers — went unclaimed and was outrighted from the roster.

Perdomo, 29, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons. He logged a personal-high 29 innings with the Pirates in 2023 after signing an offseason minor league deal. The 6’8″ southpaw showed promise, working to a 3.72 ERA while striking out an elite 37.6% of batters faced. He generated swinging strikes at a solid 13% clip and held opposing lefties to a .125/.205/.225 line in a small sample.

Were he healthy, that likely would have been enough to hold a spot in the Pittsburgh relief corps. Unfortunately, Perdomo landed on the injured list with a season-ending elbow problem in August. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported over the weekend that Perdomo underwent a Tommy John procedure a month ago. He’s likely to miss all of 2024. With no injured list during the offseason, the Bucs felt it best to let him go.

Atlanta will carry him on the 40-man roster, at least for the moment. Should he stick on the roster all winter, they could place him on the 60-day IL during Spring Training. He’ll step into the spot vacated by Stephens, who made five appearances late in the season. The 29-year-old righty posted a 3.28 ERA over 24 2/3 innings with Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s likely to find another minor league deal this offseason.

Athletics Claim Miguel Andujar From Pirates

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The Athletics announced that they have claimed infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar off waivers from the Pirates and selected outfielder Lazaro Armenteros. The A’s also outrighted left-handers Anthony Kay and Easton Lucas, as well as right-handers Tayler Scott and Chad Smith to Triple-A Las Vegas. The move on Armenteros was reported last week.

Andujar, 29 in March, had a tremendous season with the Yankees in 2018, finishing second in Rookie of the Year voting to Shohei Ohtani. But since then, he hasn’t been given an extended stretch of playing time in the big leagues. Shoulder surgery put him out of action for much of 2019 and Gio Urshela stole the third base job in the Bronx while he was gone. Since then, he has generally crushed in the minors but struggled when given brief looks in the majors.

2023 continued that pattern, with Andujar in the Pirates organization. He was up in the majors for a couple of weeks from late April to mid-May but hit just .161/.212/.387. But his Triple-A season was far stronger, as he hit .338/.404/.536 at that level. He got back to the big leagues as a September call-up and was able to post an excellent line .302/.351/.528 in the final month of the season.

Given that encouraging finish, the Bucs could have held onto Andujar but he was projected for an arbitration salary of $2.2MM and is out of options. He was also limited to playing first base and the outfield corners in 2023, both in the majors and in the minors. The Pirates decided to move on but the A’s have come in to claim him.

The latter club has traded away their most established big leaguers in recent years, which perhaps makes Oakland the ideal landing spot for Andujar. He will be competing for playing time in the first base/corner outfield/designated hitter mix with Ryan Noda, Seth Brown, Brent Rooker, JJ Bleday and others. If he is finally able to click in the majors again, he can be retained for another season via arbitration, though the A’s would likely trade him in that scenario.

Kay, 28, was just claimed off waivers a couple of weeks ago. He has a 5.59 ERA in 85 1/3 career innings at the major league level. He tossed 40 2/3 innings in the minors this year, between the Mets and Cubs, with a 3.76 ERA in that time.

Lucas, 26, just came of the A’s in the deadline deal that sent Shintaro Fujinami to the O’s. He was added to the roster in early September and made his major league debut, allowing six earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. He tossed 46 2/3 frames in the minors for the year across different levels and organizations, with a 3.86 ERA across those clubs.

Scott, 31, was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox in July. He had a 5.60 ERA in the majors in 2023, splitting time between three different clubs. Between three different Triple-A clubs, he logged 38 1/3 innings with a 1.64 ERA.

Smith, 28, was acquired from the Rockies in the last offseason. He went on to throw 13 2/3 innings for the A’s in 2023 with a 6.59 ERA. His 34 2/3 innings in Triple-A didn’t go any better, with a 7.53 ERA in that time.

Pirates Decline Club Option On Jarlin Garcia

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The Pirates announced this evening that the club had declined its club option for the 2024 season on left-hander Jarlin Garcia. While Garcia’s option was worth just $3.25MM, the 30-year-old lefty did not pitch in 2023 after being shut down during Spring Training thanks to a nerve issue in his biceps, making the decision to decline the option fairly unsurprising.

Garcia made his big debut with the Marlins back in 2017. Though he struggled to a 4.81 ERA and 5.41 FIP across 119 1/3 innings of work his first two seasons in the majors, Garcia enjoyed a breakout season for Miami back in 2019 with a 3.02 ERA (144 ERA+) and 3.77 FIP across 50 2/3 innings of work. Despite that strong season, the Marlins exposed him to waivers during the 2019-20 offseason the Garcia was claimed by San Francisco.

Garcia continued to improve upon joining the Giants, recording a sensational 0.49 ERA in 18 1/3 innings of work during the shortened 2020 campaign before following that up with a 2.62 ERA and 3.77 FIP over 68 2/3 innings of work in 2021. Unfortunately, Garcia’s results took a turn for the worse in 2022, with a 3.74 ERA and 4.27 FIP across 65 innings of work. While that was still quality production for a middle reliever, the Giants opted to non-tender Garcia last offseason, leading him to sign with the Pirates. Ultimately, he’ll depart Pittsburgh without throwing a pitch for the big league club and return to the open market.

While Garcia has certainly found success as a quality left-handed option out of the bullpen throughout his career, it’s hard to imagine a club guaranteeing Garcia a particularly significant sum for what will be his age-31 campaign in 2024 after he missed the entire 2023 campaign season due to injury. That’s especially true given Garcia’s low strikeout totals throughout his career. While Garcia has managed to get results by keeping the ball on the ground at a 41.8% clip throughout his career, he sports a career strikeout rate of just 19.6%, including a 20.7% rate when he last took the mound during a 2022 season.

In addition to the news regarding Garcia, more details have become available regarding the club’s decision to waive left-hander Angel Perdomo earlier this week. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relays that the 29-year-old lefty underwent Tommy John surgery last month. After first breaking into the big leagues with the Brewers back in 2020, Perdomo resurfaced with the Pirates this season and impressed out of the club’s bullpen, with a 3.72 ERA and 3.01 FIP in 30 appearances before his season came to an end in August due to elbow discomfort. That discomfort clearly ended up being more serious than initially though, given Perdomo underwent surgery two months later that figures to see him miss at least the majority of the 2024 campaign.

Report: MLB Grants Yariel Rodriguez Free Agency

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Right-handed pitcher Yariel Rodriguez has officially been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball, reports Francys Romero (X link). He is now free to sign with an MLB team.

Rodriguez became one of the more intriguing options on the pitching market when he was granted a release from his contract with NPB’s Chunichi Dragons a month ago. He has been conducting showcases for MLB clubs in the few weeks since but was barred from officially signing with a major league team until today. There’s nothing to suggest he’ll sign imminently, of course, but this removes the procedural hurdle he still needed to clear.

A native of Cuba, Rodriguez turns 27 in March. That’s atypically young for a free agent pitcher. He worked out of the bullpen over parts of three seasons with the Dragons. Rodriguez had a dominating showing in 2022, when he pitched to a 1.15 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate over 54 2/3 innings. He worked as a starter for his home country during the World Baseball Classic. Once that event concluded, Rodriguez decided not to report back to the Dragons. He sat out the remainder of the 2023 season — the team placed him on the restricted list — before his camp secured his release.

MLB teams figure to have differing evaluations on Rodriguez’s viability as a starter. He’s an intriguing arm with promising stuff and success at the second-highest level of professional baseball in the world. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported last month that the Rays were among 15 teams with scouts in attendance for one of Rodriguez’s recent workouts in the Dominican Republic. This afternoon, Romero listed (on X) 10 clubs that had shown interest in the hurler: the Astros, Yankees, Rangers, Pirates, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Phillies, White Sox, Mets and Giants.

Pirates Place Miguel Andujar, Angel Perdomo On Waivers

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The Pirates have placed outfielder Miguel Andújar and reliever Angel Perdomo on outright waivers, reports Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports. They join righty Yerry De Los Santos as Pittsburgh players known to be on the waiver wire. Both Andújar and Perdomo will become free agents if they aren’t claimed.

Pittsburgh ran Andújar through waivers twice this past season. The former Rookie of the Year runner-up got into 30 big league contests, hitting .250/.300/.476 with four home runs across 90 plate appearances. He had a very strong offensive showing at Triple-A Indianapolis, running a .338/.404/.536 line while connecting on 16 home runs in 103 games. Andújar walked at a strong 10.1% clip and struck out only 11.8% of the time.

The 28-year-old hasn’t found much major league success since his excellent 2018 debut with the Yankees, however. Paired with questions about his defensive profile, he has fallen into a depth role. With a projected $2.2MM arbitration salary, he looked a very likely non-tender.

Perdomo, a 6’8″ southpaw, made 30 appearances for the Bucs this year. He posted a 3.72 ERA with a massive 37.6% strikeout rate across 29 innings. Perdomo looked as if he’d stake a claim to a spot in the Pittsburgh bullpen before landing on the injured list with season-ending elbow discomfort in August.

Pirates Place Yerry De Los Santos On Outright Waivers

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The Pirates have placed reliever Yerry De Los Santos on outright waivers, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (X link). That will drop Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster count to 36.

De los Santos, 26 in December, has spent his entire career with the Bucs. He signed with Pittsburgh out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. The right-hander reached the majors seven years later. He has tossed around 25 MLB innings in each of the past two campaigns, including 24 1/3 frames this past season. De Los Santos posted a solid 3.33 ERA but had mediocre strikeout and walk numbers. He punched out 17.3% of batters faced while walking 12.5%.

Over 25 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis this year, De Los Santos pitched to a 6.12 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate. He kept the ball on the ground at a strong 51.8% clip. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, he has the requisite minor league service time to become a free agent.

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