The Pirates selected the contracts of infielder Rodolfo Castro and right-hander Max Kranick Friday, protecting them from the Rule 5 draft in December.
With the roster full, though, they had to open two spots, too. To do so, the Pirates designated right-hander Trevor Williams and utilityman Jose Osuna for assignment.
For Williams, it ends his Pirates career on a sour note. After an encouraging rookie season in 2017 and one of the best second halves in the history of the game in 2018, he struggled the past two years, especially in 2020, going 2-8 with a 6.18 ERA. He also allowed the most home runs in baseball this season with 15.
The decision to cut him so early was a bit unexpected, though, since the Pirates had until Dec. 2 to non-tender him. So why did they do it now?
“In Trevor's case, certainly looking towards the possibility of tendering him and what the arbitration award might be without knowing exactly what it might be, we felt like it was unlikely we were going to be in a position to tender [him],” Ben Cherington said during a Zoom call Friday night. “Once we determined that, we felt it would make sense [to designate him for assignment]. We needed a spot and it made sense to make that move sooner.”
Williams was scheduled to go through arbitration for the second time this winter, and after an unprecedented abbreviated season, there is no sure way to know what he would have earned. MLB Trade Rumors has three separate projections based on how arbiters may rule on cases, and they forecasted him to make between $3.2 and $4.6 million.
With most teams facing budget constraints, that was too great of a salary for the Pirates to commit to at this point of the offseason, especially for a pitcher who is coming off of two bad seasons.
“The simplest thing is just that his fastball became much less effective here in the last year or two,” Cherington said. “I think we can all come up with potential reasons for that, but the bottom line is just that the fastball was less effective and was getting hit hard. That impacted the overall performance.”
Batters hit .278 against Williams’ fastball last year, and 12 of his 15 home runs came against his heater. He threw it for just over half of his pitches last year, so if that pitch is causing problems, it certainly will hamper his results.
Cherington called Williams Friday to thank him for his time with the Pirates. The decision to cut a player is never easy, even more so when Cherington believes Williams can rebound.
“Trevor’s been a good pitcher, and I would bet on him being a good pitcher again,” Cherington said. “[Cutting him] was not about that. We’re trying to make decisions on how we can best use the resources we have to build toward 2021 both in terms of salary and roster spot. We just felt like, right now, we weren’t going to be able to commit to Trevor.”
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• As for Osuna, it brings his four-year run with the Pirates, though he never spent a full season in the majors. He spent half of the 2020 season at the satellite training site in Altoona, Pa., and slashed .205/.244/.397 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 82 major-league plate appearances.
One of the main contributing factors to DFA'ing Osuna was the emergence of new options at positions he plays. Not only do Ke'Bryan Hayes, Josh Bell and Colin Moran have the corner infield spots locked down, Phillip Evans and Will Craig are also on the roster as depth option and can play a bit of outfield as well.
"We had more depth at that spot than we had had before for a combination of reasons," Cherington said.
Cherington mentioned that, like Dovydas Neverauskas, Osuna has drawn interest from an Asian team, so it looks like he will be heading overseas to play next year.
"It was just one where we expected we probably be making a move with Jose, and given that interest, we sped that up," Cherington said.
• Onto the players the Pirates added. Castro is a 21-year-old utility infielder who spent the regular season in the Altoona camp before being invited to development camp in Bradenton, Fla.
He has good power for a young infielder, clubbing 19 home runs in Class A in 2019 with some of the hardest hit balls in the Pirates' farm system, averaging an exit velocity of 89 mph, per FanGraphs.
Cherington noted that Castro would have been in Class AA Altoona this year had there been a normal minor-league season. While he has mostly played second and third base, he can handle shortstop too and has improved defensively this year.
"Just a talented young player who has a chance to help a team, both on the offensive and defensive side of the game," Cherington said. "He's certainly got room to grow. He knows he's going to need to time in the minor leagues. Still some some swing decision development to do there. But and exciting young infield prospect."
• Kranick, 23, also spent the entire regular season in the Altoona camp. He made a good impression there, and Cherington described him as "a young, big, strong physical guy who we think has a chance to start."
Kranick shortened his arm path during his delivery, improving his velocity. While he usually say in the lower-90s, he has now been clocked at 98 mph.
Like Castro, Kranick would have probably been in Altoona this season. That could be a promotion to Class AAA on the horizon, as well as a potential call up in 2020.
• The Pirates are one of a few teams who positioned to be sellers this offseason, and Cherington says they have been in contact with every other team this offseason.
A lot of that has mostly been note-sharing though, trying to figure out what each team is trying to accomplish during the winter. That process is mostly through, which means the Pirates can start following up with teams and see which players might fit where.
"We’ve certainly been active with calls. I’ve started some of that follow-up. We’ll see where that takes us."
The process is going to be different this year since the winter meetings will not be held in person. There likely won't be much activity league-wide until after the non-tender deadline on Dec. 2, so teams can see which players are free agents before seriously exploring trade opportunities.
• Some quick notes to close: Former farm director Larry Broadway does not have an official role yet, though it will be in the "professional evaluation space." The search for a pitching coordinator is still ongoing. Cherington is assuming the designated hitter will not be returning to the National League until the league tells him otherwise.
