Pirates Place Francisco Cervelli On DL, Acquire Erik Kratz From Angels
The Pirates have announced that they’ve placed catcher Francisco Cervelli on the 15-day DL with a broken hamate bone in his left hand. To take his place on the active roster, they’ve acquired fellow backstop Erik Kratz from the Angels for cash considerations. To make room for Kratz on the 40-man roster, they’ve designated reliever Trey Haley for assignment.
Cervelli had surgery today to remove a fractured hook of the hamate bone, the Pirates also announced. He is expected to return to baseball activities in four to six weeks. He left yesterday’s game against the Cardinals with hand pain after taking a swing. Cervelli was hitting .257/.373/.293 this season, posting his usual high on-base percentage but with little of the modest power he demonstrated during his breakout 2015 season. It’s possible his hand injury could further hamper his power once he returns.
Kratz will likely share the Pirates’ catching duties with Chris Stewart in the meantime. His acquisition was necessary in part because of an injury to Bucs catching prospect Elias Diaz, who ordinarily likely would have started in Cervelli’s place. Kratz (who, incidentally, made his big-league debut with the Bucs in 2010) has a career .210/.261/.381 line in parts of seven big-league seasons, although he rates as a good defender and solid framer, qualities the Pirates value highly in catchers. The Angels signed Kratz to a minor league deal two weeks ago after he was released by the Astros.
The Pirates signed Haley to a big-league deal last offseason despite a lack of previous big-league experience, then sent him to Triple-A Indianapolis. He throws very hard, routinely hitting the high 90s, but continues a longstanding pattern of struggling badly to throw strikes, with a 6.66 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 7.4 BB/9 in 24 1/3 Triple-A innings this year.
Pirates Sign Right-Hander Trey Haley To Major League Contract
The Pirates announced that they have signed right-handed reliever Trey Haley to a one-year, Major League Contract on Thursday.
Haley, 25, has spent his entire career in the Indians organization since being selected by Cleveland in the second round of the 2008 draft. The Texas native rated among Baseball America’s Top 30 Indians prospects from 2008-13, ranging from No. 14 to No. 28 and at times earning the distinction of having the best-rated fastball and the best-rated curveball in Cleveland’s minor league system. Control problems have long plagued Haley, but he’s never had an issue missing bats, as he’s averaged about a strikeout per inning in his minor league career. This past season, Haley reached the Triple-A level for the first time and posted a strong 2.45 ERA with 9.8 K/9 against 5.2 BB/9 in 55 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.
Haley will land on the Pirates’ 40-man roster and compete for a job this spring despite never having thrown an inning in the Majors. While the signing will come as a surprise to some, these types of deals — Major League contracts for career minor leaguers — happen a few times each offseason. This winter, we’ve already seen left-hander Buddy Baumann (Padres), right-hander Cesar Vargas (Padres) and right-hander Andury Acevedo (Cubs) land Major League deals despite having no prior Major League experience. (Right-hander Tony Barnette, too, landed a big league deal with the Rangers despite zero MLB innings, although he’s been pitching very successfully in Japan in recent years.)
The Pirates’ 40-man roster is currently full, so they’ll have to make a corresponding move in order to complete Haley’s signing. The team has yet to announce that transaction, however.