BRADENTON, Fla. -- For a franchise that tends to pinch every penny, the Pirates will now open the 2017 season with roughly $3 million in dead payroll.
The Pirates placed long-time middle reliever Jared Hughes on release waivers Wednesday morning and, after he cleared those, he was granted his unconditional release. In January, he and the team signed a one-year, $2.825 million deal to avoid arbitration. Because his release came by Major League Baseball's spring deadline, he is owed $706,250.
Earlier in the morning, the team optioned immensely struggling starter Drew Hutchison to Class AAA Indianapolis. In January, he and the team signed a one-year, $2.3 million deal to avoid arbitration. Even though he's in the minors, he'll be paid his full major-league salary.
Total cost: $3,006,250.
Hughes, 31, posted a 1.96 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 2014, but posted progressively worse numbers the next two seasons with a 3.03 ERA and 1.42 WHIP last season. He then had a brutal spring training, allowing 12 earned runs in 9 1/3 innings for an 11.57 ERA with five strikeouts, four walks and a 2.14 WHIP.
One of the kindest, most gregarious, most generous the Pirates have had in their fold over the past decade, Hughes wished all concerned well with a tweet Wednesday afternoon:
Pittsburgh as a city and as an organization will forever be family to me. Thank you @Pirates, it was an honor to wear the black and gold.
— Jared Hughes (@locatejared) March 29, 2017