Let’s try this again.
After opting out of his minor-league deal Friday upon being told by the club he would not make the opening day team, veteran infielder Todd Frazier signed a new minor-league pact with the Pirates on Tuesday. He will be part of the group of five players who will be going to the Pirates’ alternate training site.
Both Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton cited versatility as the main factor for why they did not add Frazier. The Pirates will be carrying 14 pitchers to start the season, giving them just a four player bench. While Frazier can play first and third base, he ultimately lost out to Phillip Evans, who can play the corner infield and outfield spots, as well as second base.
Cherington made a point during a Zoom call with local media Monday that the team was still in communication with Frazier, and that they would be interested in retaining his services, “if we can work that out.”
“We really enjoyed having him in camp,” Cherington said about Frazier. “He performed well.”
Frazier hit three home runs in his 12 spring games with a .996 OPS. He batted .236 with four home runs and a .684 OPS for the Rangers and Mets last season.
“He was a fun guy to have around," Kevin Newman said Tuesday. "A light-hearted guy, brings a lot of energy and has a lot of experience. ... I’m excited for him to be around and to continue to learn from a guy like that."
Frazier will be one of three notable offseason free agent additions who will be at the Pirates’ alternate camp, along with outfielder Brian Goodwin and relief pitcher Chasen Shreve. All three could potentially be part of the Pirates' taxi squad on their first road trip to Chicago.
In other roster news, per a source, catcher Tony Wolters has opted out of his contract after being told he did not make the team out of spring training. On Monday, Shelton announced that Michael Perez would be the team’s backup catcher.
While Wolters made a good impression defensively, he did not hit well this spring. He batted just .194 with no extra-base hits over 35 plate appearances.
The Pirates now have 28 active players in camp, meaning there will be two more cuts Wednesday ahead of the season debut Thursday. There appears to be either one or two spots remaining that will go to either Wil Crowe, Duane Underwood Jr. or Clay Holmes.
Underwood Jr. was acquired in March and needs to either make the team or be exposed to waivers. He tossed four scoreless innings in his three appearances this spring.
Holmes did not allow a run in his 10 scoreless appearances, striking out eight. He would need to be added to the roster to make the team, but that would be easily rectified by Underwood Jr.'s situation.
Crowe's best chance to make the team is if the Pirates do not feel Trevor Cahill is stretched out to start yet. Acquired in the Josh Bell trade, Crowe had an impressive spring, showing more spin on his fastball and using his breaking pitches more early in the count. He allowed one run over 11 1/3 innings, striking out nine.
