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Odell Jones Passes Away

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Former big league right-hander Odell Jones has passed away, per John Perrotto of Pittsburgh Baseball Now. No cause of death was given for Jones, who was 71.

Born in California in 1953, Jones was signed by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in 1971. He made his debut with that club in 1975 but tossed just three innings. He got a more proper run of play in the show in 1977, tossing 108 innings for the Bucs in a swing role. He posted an earned run average of 5.08 over 15 starts and 19 relief appearances.

Jones would go on to bounce around the league, serving in various roles. He was traded to the Mariners in 1978 and then back to the Pirates in 1980. He went to the Rangers in the 1982 Rule 5 draft and recorded 10 saves for them in 1983. He later signed with the Orioles and Blue Jays, though he didn’t make it to the majors with the latter club.

For many baseball fans, Jones is best known for one magical night where almost everything lined up for him. He was with the Brewers in 1988 as a 35-year-old journeyman. Teddy Higuera was supposed to start against Cleveland on May 28 but was dealing with some back spasms, per JD Radcliffe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which led to Jones taking the ball instead.

Though he wasn’t even the scheduled starter, Jones had the best performance of his life that night. He was perfect through seven, until he issued a one-out walk to Mel Hall. He kept his no-hitter going into the ninth, until it was broken up by a one-out single off the bat of Ron Washington, now the manager of the Angels. Dan Plesac came into to get the final two outs as the Brewers beat Cleveland 2-0 (boxscore here at Baseball Reference).

That was the final big league season for Jones, who finished his career with a 4.42 ERA in 549 1/3 innings over nine different major league seasons. MLBTR joins the baseball world in sending our condolences to the Jones family as well as his fans and friends throughout the game.

Pirates Place Marco Gonzales On 15-Day Injured List

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The Pirates announced this morning that they’ve placed left-hander Marco Gonzales on the 15-day injured list with a forearm strain. Right-hander Ryder Ryan was recalled in the corresponding move.

It’s an unfortunate turn of events for Pittsburgh, as the club has gotten off to a hot start this season with a 10-5 record that puts them just one game back of the Brewers in the NL Central. Much of that success has been attributable to Gonzales, who has posted a sterling 2.65 ERA and 3.60 FIP through three starts this season, including quality starts against tough offenses in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Gonzales’s success has helped to mask the struggles of staff ace Mitch Keller, who has allowed 12 runs (ten earned) in his 17 innings of work to this point in the season.

Gonzales’s strong start to the 2024 season comes as something of a surprise. While he posted three consecutive seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA from 2019 to 2021 with the Mariners, he’s struggled badly with injuries and ineffectiveness in recent years with a 4.36 ERA and 4.89 FIP across 42 starts from 2022-23 before his 2023 campaign was halted by surgery to repair a nerve issue in his forearm. This offseason, Gonzales was traded twice in the span of two days, first being shipped from Seattle to Atlanta in the deal that brought Jarred Kelenic to the Braves before immediately being flipped to the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later or cash.

Given the minimal acquisition cost for the Pittsburgh, the trade was already looking like a clear success just three starts into Gonzales’s tenure as a Pirate. That could certainly still be the case, but without many details regarding the specifics of Gonzales’s injury or his timeline for return, it’s impossible to know just how long the Pirates will be without the lefty. Any forearm issues are always concerning for a pitcher, though that’s perhaps especially true of Gonzales given the forearm problem that ended his 2023 season and ultimately required surgery.

With Johan Oviedo set to miss the 2024 campaign and Gonzales now potentially facing a significant absence of his own, the Pirates will have to look to their pitching depth to fill out the club’s rotation behind Keller, Martin Perez, Jared Jones, and Bailey Falter. The obvious choice for that role would be 2023 first overall pick Paul Skenes, though the league’s consensus top pitching prospect has recorded just one out in the fourth inning and maxed out at 64 pitches to this point in the season, suggesting he made need time to build up to five-plus innings of work before joining the big league club even if Pittsburgh decides to promote their flamethrowing phenom.

Barring the club deciding to promote Skenes, they have plenty of other options at the Triple-A level to replace Gonzales. Perhaps the cleanest choice would be right-hander Quinn Priester, who is already on the club’s 40-man roster and and made eight starts for the club last year. Another option would be veteran righty Domingo German, who signed a minor league deal with the club this winter after many years as a quality back-of-the-rotation arm with the Yankees.

In the meantime, the Pirates have called up Ryan, who turns 29 next month. The right-hander signed with the club on a minor league deal this past winter after making a one-inning cameo with the Mariners last year for his big league debut. Ryan ultimately made the club’s Opening Day roster but struggled in his first extended look at the major league level, surrendering four runs on six hits and two walks despite a solid 26.1% strikeout rate across his four appearances. Ryan will now get another look with the big league club, adding depth to the club’s bullpen alongside the likes of Colin Holderman and Hunter Stratton.

Central Notes: Grandal, Delay, Borucki, Gipson-Long, Edman, Martínez 

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Alex Stumpf of MLB.com offered a series of Pirates injury updates today.

Yasmani Grandal is still a few weeks away from coming off the injured list as he recovers from plantar fasciitis. However, he seems to be making good progress, and Stumpf reports that he will begin baserunning in the coming days. He has already been participating in simulated games. The two-time All-Star spent his last four seasons with the White Sox. His days as one of the best catchers in baseball are long behind him, but the Pirates are hoping he can be a capable veteran backup.

In less positive catching news, Jason Delay has been shut down from all baseball activities with little explanation. He has been on the IL since April 3 (retroactive to April 1) with right knee inflammation. The long-time minor leaguer had a mini breakout with the Pirates last year. Although his offensive numbers weren’t so impressive, he played 68 games behind the dish and put up strong defensive metrics, looking like a solid backup option.

On the pitching side, Ryan Borucki is recovering quickly from left triceps inflammation that landed him on the IL retroactive to April 6. Borucki, 30, entered the year hoping to follow up on a strong 2023 season in Pittsburgh. While the southpaw struggled through a pair of injury-riddled seasons with the Blue and Mariners in 2021 and ’22, he was a master of control for the Pirates in 2023. In 40 1/3 innings, Borucki walked just four batters. The only other pitcher with so few bases on balls (min. 30 IP) was Jacob deGrom. Stumpf notes that Borucki will begin playing catch soon, and he shouldn’t be on the IL for much longer than the minimum 15 days.

In other news from around the NL and AL Central:

  • The Tigers released a medical update today (shared by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press) that revealed right-handed pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long is dealing with right forearm tightness. He was already on the IL recovering from a groin strain. The 26-year-old is undergoing medical evaluation to determine the severity of the injury. Gipson-Long made four starts for the Tigers last year but retains his rookie eligibility for 2024. He is the team’s No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline and No. 19 according to Baseball America.
  • Cardinals center fielder Tommy Edman has been approved to begin his hitting progression, reports Daniel Guerrero of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His first step is hitting off a tee. While Edman will still need plenty of preparation to transition from a tee to MLB-caliber pitching, this marks an important step in his recovery. The Gold Glove-winner has been sidelined all year with a wrist injury.
  • Guardians infield prospect Angel Martínez has been on the 10-day IL since Opening Day with a right foot contusion he suffered this spring. Today, he was sent to Triple-A Columbus for a rehab assignment. Although Martínez is on Cleveland’s 40-man roster, he has yet to make his MLB debut. He will likely stay at Triple-A once his rehab stint is up, where he will look to improve upon a poor showing at the plate last season. Martínez, 22, is widely considered a top-10 prospect in the Guardians system. He is a candidate to earn a call-up to the MLB squad in the event of an injury to another infielder.

Royals Acquire Colin Selby From Pirates

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The Royals have acquired right-hander Colin Selby from the Pirates in exchange for minor league left-hander Connor Oliver.  Both teams have announced the trade, and Kansas City further noted that left-hander Josh Taylor has been shifted to the 60-day injured list to create space for Selby on the 40-man roster.

Pittsburgh designated Selby for assignment earlier this week, and today’s trade ends Selby’s time with the Bucs after parts of seven pro seasons.  A 16th-round pick for Pittsburgh in the 2018 draft, Selby has pitched at Triple-A Indianapolis in each of the last three seasons, with a solid 3.57 ERA and a strong 29.22% strikeout rate over 35 1/3 innings at the top rung of the minor league ladder.  Selby’s strikeout totals have spiked upwards since he became a full-time relief pitcher in 2021, and he has posted very high grounder rates, including a superb 61.2% groundball rate in 30 1/3 Triple-A frames last season.

Control is Selby’s main issue, as his walks have shot upwards along with his missed bats.  The right-hander has a 16.23% walk rate during his Triple-A career, as well as a 13.2% walk rate over his 24 career innings in the majors.  Selby posted a 9.00 ERA in his MLB debut last season, hampered by his free passes and four home runs allowed in his small sample size as a big leaguer — even with a 48.5% grounder rate against Major League batters, Selby couldn’t limit the damage when he allowed fly balls.

K.C. was intrigued enough by Selby’s potential to arrange a trade, and the 26-year-old will now head to Triple-A Omaha so the Royals’ pitching development staff can get a closer look.  The Royals felt strongly enough to use a 40-man roster spot on Selby, though Taylor’s uncertain health situation created some flexibility on the team’s roster situation.

Taylor developed both a musculocutaneous nerve issue and left biceps soreness during Spring Training, leading the Royals to place him on the 15-day IL to begin the season.  The move to the 60-day IL doesn’t reset Taylor’s clock from its initial retroactive placement of March 25, but it does mean that he’ll now be out of action until at least the last week of May.

It’s another tough setback for Taylor, who has been plagued with back problems for the better part of three years.  He missed the 2022 season entirely and underwent surgery last summer to address a herniated disc in his back, hopefully solving that issue once and for all.  Between the back injuries, a shoulder impingement, and elbow tendinitis, Taylor has appeared in just 86 games and thrown 72 2/3 innings since the start of the 2020 season.  This is Taylor’s second year in Kansas City, as the Royals acquired him from the Red Sox for Adalberto Mondesi in January 2023.

Oliver is a 22-year-old southpaw drafted in the 17th round in 2023, and his pro resume thus far consists of a single inning with the Royals’ complex league team last year.  The Miami of Ohio product had a 3.89 ERA in 14 starts and 78 2/3 innings in his final year of college ball.

Pirates Acquire Joey Bart

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April 3: It’s right knee inflammation for Delay, per Stumpf.

April 2, 9:41PM: Delay is going to be placed on the 10-day injured list, according to MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf (via X).  This will open up room for Bart on the active roster, and while the nature of Delay’s injury isn’t yet known, it now explains the Pirates’ interest in acquiring Bart.

8:32PM: The Pirates have acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Giants for minor league righty Austin Strickland.  FanSided’s Robert Murray (X link) was the first to report Bart’s move to Pittsburgh, while NBC Sports Bay Area’s Alex Pavlovic (via X) reported Strickland as the return piece of the deal.  The Pirates announced that right-hander Colin Selby was designated for assignment to open a 40-man roster spot for Bart.

The second overall pick of the 2018 draft, Bart has hit .219/.288/.335 over 503 plate appearances since making his Major League debut in 2020.  Buster Posey’s decision to opt out of the 2020 pandemic-shortened season gave Bart an early look in the bigs, and after playing in only two MLB games in 2021, it seemed like Bart would get a clear shot at becoming the Giants’ next catching stalwart after Posey’s retirement.

However, Bart’s struggles in 2022 resulted in Curt Casali and Austin Wynns getting a good chunk of the playing time behind the plate.  With some injuries also setting Bart back last season, Patrick Bailey (himself a first-round pick in 2020) stepped in and seized the starting catching job, which made it seem like only a matter of time before the Giants moved on from Bart entirely.  That reality came to pass last weekend when Bart was designated for assignment, as San Francisco hadn’t been able to find a trade partner during the offseason.

There is some irony that Bart is now heading to Pittsburgh, as the Bucs seemingly had an overload of “catchers of the future” just a few months ago.  With Henry Davis as the first overall pick of the 2021 draft and Endy Rodriguez emerging as a top-100 prospect, it seemed like the Pirates were considering using Davis in the outfield in order to use Rodriguez behind the plate and get both players into their lineup.  Those plans changed when Rodriguez tore his UCL in winter ball action, and he’ll miss the entire 2024 season recovering from surgery.  Davis has now started most of the Bucs’ games at catcher this season, with Jason Delay working as a backup.

This arrangement comes in the wake of Yasmani Grandal’s season-opening IL stint due to plantar fasciitis, as Grandal was signed to a one-year, $2.5MM deal to assume at least a part-time role behind the plate.  Since Bart is out of minor league options, he’ll have to stay on the Pirates’ active roster or else face the DFA wire again if Pittsburgh wants to send him down to Triple-A via an outright assignment.

Given how Grandal’s return will shake this catching situation up once more, it would seem like there’s plenty of fluidity within what the Pirates might do behind the plate.  Delay could be sent to Triple-A, essentially replacing Ali Sanchez (who elected free agency last weekend) as the top depth option in the minors.  Or, Davis might conceivably go to Triple-A if the Pirates want to let him work on his catching defense in a less-pressurized environment than the big leagues.  There’s even some chance Pittsburgh could also perhaps use Davis, Delay, and Bart on the 26-man roster, with Davis getting work at DH or in the outfield in order to create playing time for the other two catchers.

Selby posted a 9.00 ERA over 24 innings for the Pirates last season, in his first taste of MLB action.  The righty was a 16th-round pick for the Bucs in the 2018 draft, and he has worked almost exclusively as a reliever since the start of the 2021 season.  Scouts regard the hard-throwing Selby as having plenty of stuff but with shaky control, as evidenced with his 30.8% strikeout rate and 16.5% walk rate over 30 1/3 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis last season, en route to a 3.86 ERA.

Over Selby’s 24 Major League frames, he had a 26.3% strikeout rate, but again struggled to limit free passes in posting a 13.2BB%.  It seems like there’s a decent chance Selby might be claimed off waivers by an interested team, as the 26-year-old seems to have some upside if he can limit his walks.

For San Francisco, there’s some obvious disappointment in the official end of the Bart era, as the team ended up getting very little return on a second overall pick.  Hindsight is always 20-20, though it’s easy to wonder what president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi might’ve been able to obtain for Bart had the catcher been traded earlier in his career, though rival executives might’ve also wondered if something was up if Zaidi had been too eager to offer a seeming top prospect.  It is also fair to wonder if Bart’s career path might’ve been different if he hadn’t suffered hand and thumb injuries after being hit by pitches in 2019, or if he’d had the benefit of a smoother minor league development path in a world where either the pandemic doesn’t happen, or if the Giants didn’t move him so quickly to the majors.

The return for Bart is a lottery ticket in Strickland, who was an eighth-round pick for the Pirates in last summer’s draft.  The University of Kentucky product has yet to begin his pro career, and Baseball America’s scouting report cites his three-pitch mix, headlined by a fastball that usually sits in the 93-94mph range.  Strickland generates a lot of grounders and he has mostly worked as a multi-inning reliever, so this might hold appeal to a Giants team that has traditionally been creative with its usage of pitchers.

MLBTR Podcast: Baseball Is Back, Will Smith’s Extension, Mike Clevinger And Jon Berti

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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…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Let’s say it’s trade deadline time and the Diamondbacks are basically a longshot to make the playoffs and want to dump payroll. Do you think there could be a reunion for Jordan Montgomery to be traded to the Rangers? The contract is right with the option or does he have a no-trade clause? (31:40)
  • Are international free agents eligible for extensions right away or is there a certain waiting period? I ask this because of the impending Roki Sasaki situation. Could he sign with an MLB team next year and play that first year for peanuts knowing that he has a handshake mega deal agreement in place that kicks in the following year? (34:10)
  • Is there a particular reason that you can’t trade a draft pick in the MLB the same way you can in leagues like the NFL? I know you there is a system in place for trading competitive balance picks, but I mean for just normal picks. I ask because I am a Mets fan and a Gators fan and it hurts that Jac Caglianone probably isn’t going to fall to 18. (41:55)

Check out our past episodes!

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

Padres Acquire Jackson Wolf From Pirates

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The Padres have acquired left-hander Jackson Wolf from the Pirates, per announcements from both clubs, with minor league infielder Kervin Pichardo going the other way. Wolf had been designated for assignment by the Pirates last week and has now been optioned to Triple-A El Paso. The Friars had an open spot on their roster and won’t need to make a corresponding move.

Wolf, 25 this month, returns to his original organization. The Padres selected the lupine lefty in the fourth round of the 2021 draft but he was sent to the Bucs in the deal at last year’s deadline that sent Rich Hill and Jiman Choi to San Diego. Prior to that trade, Wolf had made 18 Double-A starts with a 4.08 earned run average, 29.8% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate. He also made one emergency start in the big leagues, allowing three earned runs in five innings.

His numbers after changing organizations were not as impressive. He made eight Double-A starts after the deal with a 4.25 ERA, 19.9% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. Perhaps he was surpassed on the Pirates’ depth chart by guys like Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. The Bucs needed three Opening Day roster spots for Jones, Ryder Ryan and Hunter Stratton and Wolf was one of the casualties.

But losing his roster spot with Pittsburgh gives him the chance to rejoin the Padres. Pitching depth has been a concern for the Friars all winter as each of Blake Snell, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Nick Martinez and Hill reached free agency. They added Michael King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and Drew Thorpe in the Juan Soto trade and then added Dylan Cease, sending Thorpe out in that deal.

They currently have a rotation consisting of Cease, King, Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Matt Waldron, with Brito in the big league bullpen as Vásquez and Jay Groome are on the 40-man and pitching in Triple-A. Wolf will join the latter two in that category and try to earn his next trip to the majors. He still has two option years remaining.

To reacquire Wolf, the Padres will part with Pichardo, whom they acquired from the Phillies in the 2022 deal that sent James Norwood the other way. He split 2023 between High-A and Double-A, striking out in 25.9% of his plate appearances but also drawing walks 12.5% of the time. His combined batting line of .257/.370/.402 translated to a wRC+ of 120.

He didn’t crack Baseball America’s list of the top 30 Padres prospects coming into the year but will give the Bucs a bit of extra minor league infield depth. He has played all four infield spots in his minor league career and a little bit in the outfield as well.

Pirates Outright Canaan Smith-Njigba; Ali Sanchez Elects Free Agency

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8:54AM: Sanchez chose to reject the outright assignment and become a free agent, as per his personal MLB.com profile page.

8:28AM: The Pirates have outrighted outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba and catcher Ali Sánchez to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to the team’s official transactions feed.  The two players were designated for assignment on Opening Day but have now cleared waivers.

Smith-Njigba has become quite familiar with the DFA wire, as he briefly left the Pirates organization via waiver claim when Pittsburgh initially designated him back in January.  The Mariners claimed Smith-Njigba but then designated him shortly thereafter, allowing the Pirates to claim him back less than three weeks after initially parting ways with the outfielder.  This latest transaction allows the Bucs to move Smith-Njigba off their 40-man roster, but he’ll remain as a depth option at Triple-A.

CSN turns 25 next month, and his big league resume consists of 18 games and 44 plate appearances (with a .493 OPS) with Pittsburgh over the last two seasons.  Apart from his brief sojourn as as Mariner, Smith-Njigba has also been a member of the Yankees organization, beginning his pro career as a fourth-round pick for New York in the 2017 draft.  He came to the Pirates as part of the four-player trade package for Jameson Taillon in January 2021.

Over 686 career plate appearances at the Triple-A level, Smith-Njigba has hit a solid .273/.366/.439 while hitting 16 homers and stealing 29 bases in 37 attempts.  He isn’t particularly fast despite those good base-stealing numbers, and Smith-Njigba has primarily played the two corner outfield positions apart from a handful of appearances in center field.  Smith-Njigba is also a left-handed hitter and the Pirates are currently loaded with right-handed bats, even though the outfield (left-handed hitting Jack Suwinski and switch-hitter Bryan Reynolds) has more balance.

This isn’t the first time Sanchez has been outrighted off a 40-man roster, so the catcher has the right to reject the Pirates’ assignment and re-enter free agency.  There hasn’t yet been any word on whether or not Sanchez will remain in the organization, though he is currently the only catcher in Indianapolis with any big league experience and would be the first call-up if either of Henry Davis or Jason Delay was injured.

Sanchez’s tenure in MLB isn’t exactly vast, as he debuted with five games with the Mets in 2020, two games with the Cardinals in 2021, and he hasn’t since returned to the Show.  The 27-year-old has spent much of his career in the Mets’ farm system, but has since bounced around to multiple teams in search of catching depth.  This is technically Sanchez’s second stint with the Pirates, as he was claimed off waivers from the Tigers in October 2022 only to be claimed away again a couple of months later by the Diamondbacks without ever actually suiting up for Pittsburgh in a pro game.

The Pirates signed Sanchez to a guaranteed Major League deal this past December, perhaps as an acknowledgement of his strong .311/.375/.492 slash line over 267 PA in 2023 with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  The catcher is out of minor league options, so the Bucs had to designate Sanchez for assignment in order to remove him from the 40-man.

Yankees Acquire JT Brubaker From Pirates

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The Yankees have acquired right-hander JT Brubaker and international bonus pool space from the Pirates for a player to be named later, per announcements from both clubs. Prior to the official announcements, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported on that Brubaker was going to the Yanks for a PTBNL. The righty is on the 60-day injured list, recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery. He won’t need a roster spot with the Yankees but won’t be available to them immediately. Per Stumpf, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Brubaker is targeting a return around the All-Star break. He’s controllable via arbitration through the 2025 season. The bonus pool money is worth $550K, per Francys Romero.

Brubaker, 30, missed the entire 2023 season after requiring Tommy John in mid-April. In the three preceding seasons, he had been one of the steadier arms on Pittsburgh’s staff. He tossed 315 2/3 innings over the 2020 to 2022 campaigns, one of which was shortened by the pandemic, with an earned run average of 4.99.

Though that ERA may not be terribly exciting, it’s possible that it doesn’t represent his true skill level, with some underlying metrics painting a more favorable picture. He struck out 23.3% of batters faced in that stretch and walked 7.8%, with both of those numbers being slightly better than average for a starting pitcher in the modern game. His 44% ground ball rate was also right around typical league average.

The discrepancy may be down to luck, as his .313 batting average on balls in play and 70.1% strand rate have both been on the unfortunate side of par. ERA estimators like his 4.43 FIP and 4.04 SIERA suggest he may have deserved better. That was especially true in 2022, when he had a 4.69 ERA but a 3.92 FIP and 3.97 SIERA.

But it’s also possible the difference is down to Brubaker’s struggles with lefties, something explored by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco prior to Brubaker’s surgery. He only throws his changeup about 5.5% of the time and hasn’t had great results with it, meaning he doesn’t have a great weapon for tackling lefty hitters. They have hit .269/.339/.481 against him, compared to a line of .272/.342/.391 from righty-swinging opponents.

Whether the Yankees can help Brubaker find another gear remains to be seen, but there’s likely some appeal even if he remains a back-of-the-rotation kind of guy. The Yankees were looking for starting pitching this offseason, even after signing Marcus Stroman. Their need for rotation reinforcements was only increased with the recent news that Gerrit Cole is going to miss some time with an elbow issue.

Cole and Brubaker may be on somewhat similar timelines, as Cole was also placed on the 60-day IL, putting him on the shelf until at least late May but with an uncertain timeline after that. Brubaker won’t be able to help out during Cole’s absence but other injuries could crop up throughout the season that could require reinforcements. The Yankees currently have Stroman, Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón in three rotation spots, all three of whom missed significant time last year. Luis Gil won a rotation spot out of camp despite missing most of the past two seasons recovering from his own Tommy John surgery.

Brubaker comes into 2024 with exactly four years of service time. He first qualified for arbitration going into 2023 and earned a salary of $2.275MM. After sitting out the whole campaign, he agreed to the same mark this year, with one more arbitration season remaining.

For the Bucs, they were looking at another season and a half of Brubaker’s services, including next year and the post-All-Star portion of 2024. Once healthy, he would have been entering a rotation mix that currently consists of Mitch Keller, Martín Pérez, Marco Gonzales, Jared Jones and Bailey Falter, but prospects like Paul Skenes and Quinn Priester might be in there by midseason. Bubba Chandler will be a bit behind that group and Johan Oviedo, who will miss 2024 due to his own Tommy John, will be back in the picture next year.

General manager Ben Cherington spoke to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, saying that the club preferred to get something in return now. That return is unknown at this time but will become more clear when the PTBNL is revealed. In the meantime, they will save a small amount of money.

The Yanks will be taking on slightly more than the Bucs are saving, since they are over the fourth line of the competitive balance tax and a third-time payor. That means they are paying a 110% tax on any money they add to the payroll at this point. On top of Brubaker’s $2.275MM salary, they will also have to pay $2.5025MM in taxes.

If Brubaker is healthy in a few months but the Yankee rotation is in decent shape, he has a couple of options and could be sent to Triple-A. That could provide the club with some extra depth, it could also give them an extra year of control. As mentioned, Brubaker is coming into 2024 with exactly four years of service time. He’s currently accruing more service time while on the 60-day IL but an optional assignment of a few weeks would prevent him from getting to the five-year mark this year.

Regardless of how that plays out, the Yankees are adding some rotation depth for the latter half of this year and for the future as well. Additionally, they’ve added some unknown amount of international bonus pool space. The Bucs have saved a bit of money and bolstered their system with another player who is presumably younger and more controllable than Brubaker, though the details of their return have not yet emerged.

Pirates Designate Canaan Smith-Njigba, Jackson Wolf, Ali Sánchez For Assignment

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The Pirates announced a series of Opening Day roster moves, selecting the contracts of right-handers Jared Jones, Ryder Ryan and Hunter Stratton. All three of those moves were previously reported. In corresponding 40-man moves, outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba, catcher Ali Sánchez and left-hander Jackson Wolf were designated for assignment.

Smith-Njigba, 25 in April, has clearly been on the margins of the roster in Pittsburgh since this is the second time he’s lost his spot in the past two months. He was designated for assignment in January and claimed off waivers by the Mariners. The Mariners put him back on waivers a couple of weeks later and the Bucs claimed him back. In between those two moves, the 60-day injured list had opened up, allowing the Bucs to put JT Brubaker there and squeeze Smith-Njigba back on, but he’s now been nudged off again.

He has hit .279/.373/.452 in Triple-A over the past two years but has a measly slash of .135/.250/.243 in his 44 major league plate appearances. Given his strong minor league work, which also includes 21 steals last year, he could attract the attention of other clubs. He also has one option year remaining, so a claiming club could keep him stashed in the minors until his services are needed.

Sánchez, 27, signed a major league deal with the club in December but the club’s catching situation has changed since then. In 2023, they largely relied on Endy Rodríguez behind the plate with Henry Davis playing right field. But Rodriguez required UCL surgery in the offseason that is going to keep him out of action for the entire 2024 campaign. This spring, the Bucs moved Davis back behind the plate and also signed Yasmani Grandal for a bit of insurance.

Davis seems to have taken well to moving back behind the plate and is now slated for the lion’s share of the work back there this year. Grandal is starting the season on the IL but the Pirates will roll with Jason Delay as the backup for now. Delay has options and can be sent to Triple-A when Grandal returns. Sánchez is out of options and wouldn’t be in the same position.

Sánchez hit a paltry .125/.263/.125  this spring, which surely didn’t help, and he has just 14 major league plate appearances on his track record. But he’s coming off a strong season in the minors, as he hit .311/.375/.492 for the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A team last year.

Wolf, 25 in April, came over to the Pirates in last year’s deal that sent Ji Man Choi and Rich Hill to the Padres, having made one career start with the Friars. He’s not an overpowering arm, with a fastball that sits in the low 90s, but has nonetheless found some decent results. Between his two clubs last year, he tossed 124 1/3 minor league innings with a 4.13 earned run average, 26.8% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate.

He came into this year as the club’s #21 prospect, per Baseball America, but has been nudged off the roster as guys like Jones, Paul Skenes and others have seemingly jumped ahead of him on the depth chart. He still has a couple of options and could intrigue clubs, especially with starting depth always being in demand.

The Bucs will have one week to find trading partners for Smith Njigba, Sanchez or Wolf or else try to pass them through waivers.

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