MINNEAPOLIS -- Within a span of less than 24 hours this week, the Pirates abandoned their opening day center field plan, just 18 games into the season.
On Wednesday, the Pirates designated Anthony Alford for assignment to claim Rule 5 pick Ka’ai Tom off waivers from the Athletics. The following day, they let go of Dustin Fowler in order to add Todd Frazier and some infield depth.
There is a possibility one or either of them could sneak through waivers, but the very safe bet is neither will play another game for the Pirates. They slashed .138/.240/.154 over 75 combined plate appearances this year.
In the interim, it looks like Bryan Reynolds will be getting more playing time in center field, an idea that has been floated around for several years now and one Reynolds himself has said he would like to do. Expect him to get some looks there in the short term, but not over the rest of the season.
Most of it has to deal with who is available right now. Tom is going to have to go through the intake process before he can join the team, so the Pirates have to wait before he could suit up. He can play all three outfield positions, and while not officially confirmed, it seems highly likely he’ll get at least a look in center.
Besides Tom and Reynolds, the only other players on the team with any center field experience are Gregory Polanco and Wilmer Difo. Difo is a utility bench player, and Polanco hasn’t played center since 2017. Difo could come in to spell Reynolds once in a while, but that’s about it. Polanco is only an option in an absolute emergency, and even then it seems more likely someone like Phillip Evans would play there first.
Depth wise, Brian Goodwin is still at the alternate site, but he has an opt-out at some point in May. Perhaps that will force the team's hand to add him if he threatens to leave. Jared Oliva was the apparent next man up once he returned to the alternate site last week, but he is going to be out at least four weeks with an oblique injury.
After that, it’s Travis Swaggerty, who is not on the roster yet. While he will need to be added by late November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, the Pirates aren’t eager to give him a spot on the 40-man quite yet. He could benefit from some time in the minors, and a late-season promotion is on the table. Just not now. Oneil Cruz is on the roster, but his outfield experiment has just begun. Cole Tucker’s outfield experiment officially ended this spring.
To put it simply, Reynolds is the best option right now. That will be a different story come later this year, when Oliva is healthy, Cruz will presumably be ready for the majors and Swaggerty potentially knocking on the door.
Those prospects could potentially play the corners too, but it’s more likely Reynolds returns to left. He grades out better there, and the unique dimensions of PNC Park’s left field play to his strengths in the field.
“You put him in left field, to me, he’s a Gold Glove defender, period,” outfield coach Tarrik Brock said during spring training. “I don’t see anyone better than him.”
To emphasize Brock’s point, Reynolds just missed out on a Gold Glove nomination in left last year. The factor that cost him the nod was innings played, because he shifted over to center later in the season. Had he stuck in left, he might have won some hardware.
In a lot of ways, it’s similar to the situation the Pirates had with Starling Marte. They kept him in left for years because he was doing so well there, even though he could play center.
Derek Shelton likes having Evans bounce around the diamond, so don’t count on him taking the everyday left field job, even when Ke’Bryan Hayes eventually returns. Reynolds likes playing center, saying he gets truer reads off line drives. He’ll get a chance to earn more playing time at his natural position. But right now, the Pirates aren’t eager to have him leave left field.
MORE PIRATES
• Since he is on the team now, a source told me the financial terms for Frazier’s contract are the same as his original deal: A $1.5 million salary (prorated, so closer to $1.33 million now) with another $1 million in potential bonuses, based on plate appearances. He had an opt-out in May, and with Hayes’ stay on the injured list lasting even longer, the Pirates wanted to add some third base depth, especially since Evans is going to bounce around the diamond. -- Stumpf
• The Pirates promoted Geoff Hartlieb to the majors Thursday, but they missed the 20-day mark for minor-leaguers, meaning this will count as an option year for him, even if he is on the team the rest of the year. It’s Hartlieb’s second option year, and it also is the second year for Wil Crowe, Miguel Yajure, Cole Tucker, Nick Mears and Cruz. Players get three option years, so this won’t effect their 2022 status, but it does put a bit of a clock on their development. If they don’t make a mark in the majors this year, it will put a lot of pressure on them to do so next season. No Pirates players have begun their third option year to this point. -- Stumpf
STEELERS
• Mike Tomlin's three-year extension is an interesting one. It means he'll be the head coach of the Steelers at least through 2024. Certainly by that time, Ben Roethlisberger will have retired. And there's a good chance GM Kevin Colbert also will be gone. Tomlin just turned 49 in March, so he's not anywhere near "retirement" age. But Art Rooney II, who himself turns 69 in September, obviously wants to make sure that Tomlin is around to guide the Steelers through the era when Roethlisberger is gone, hence a three-year extension instead of just adding another year to his current deal. Colbert turned 64 in January and is signed through the 2022 draft, so he could be a part of the post-Roethlisberger era. If the Steelers don't get their future quarterback next offseason, Colbert could even stick around for a year beyond that, as well. But there was a thought that perhaps Tomlin and Colbert would call it quits when Roethlisberger did. That's obviously not happening now -- at least not for Tomlin. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
• As DK mentioned a week ago in Site Stuff, the Steelers will hold an in-person pre-draft press conference with Tomlin and Colbert Monday at Heinz Field. It will be the first time the team has had an in-person press conference since last year's NFL Scouting Combine, a little over a year ago. But it also shows the NFL and Steelers in particular are serious about getting things back to normal -- or as close as they can be -- as soon as possible. Other teams have held their pre-draft press conferences virtually, but the league gave teams the option to do things in person, so long as social distancing and protocols are followed. Hopefully, we'll be back to normal sooner rather than later. But it will be training camp at the latest. -- Lolley
• The Steelers have some obvious needs going into the draft, with a center, running back, off-ball linebacker, edge rusher, tight end and cornerback being the most obvious. They also wouldn't mind adding an offensive tackle at some point in a deep and talented class. But this year's draft falls off after the fifth round or so, and the Steelers don't have a fifth-round pick. They do have five picks in the first four rounds, however. But they could use at least some depth help at seven positions. So, they're not going to fill them all with strong picks. Don't be surprised if the team punts on one or two of those positions in the draft, say tight end and linebacker, and just signs a couple of veteran players at those positions after the draft. The deadline for signees to affect the compensatory formula is next Tuesday, so any veteran players signed don't have any effect on the number or value of compensatory picks you receive. -- Lolley
PENGUINS
• Ron Hextall told our site recently the Penguins won't sign any college free agents this year, although he suggested there were a few in which they had been interested. He intends to explore the talent available there again in coming seasons, and said the Penguins also could pursue some free agents who spent this season in Europe. "Those are markets we have looked into and will continue to," he said. "Certainly, the European free-agent market, we'll continue to look into." He added that it's "definitely possible" that the Penguins will aggressively go after someone from Europe, while acknowledging that wanting a player doesn't guarantee that a team will be able to sign him. "Whether we get him or not, who knows?" Hextall said. "The problem is, there are 31 other teams out there, too, that are trying. It's tough, with free agents. It's fit (with an organization), and everything else. There's a lot that goes into it. But we pursue a decent number, typically, when I'm in the (GM's) chair." The Penguins are believed to have 49 players under contract, one below the league limit. -- Dave Molinari at PPG Paints Arena
• Jeff Carter's confirmation he plans to play in 2021-22, the final season of his contract, could be another blow to the chances the Penguins will try to re-sign Mark Jankowski, who was brought in as a free agent in 2020 on a one-year deal. The Penguins already have centers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Teddy Blueger and Carter under contract for next season, and presumably will try to retain Frederick Gaudreau, who has been impressive during his limited time in the NHL this season and can be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Jankowski makes the league minimum ($700,000) and will be a restricted free agent after this season, which means the Penguins would have most of the leverage in negotiations, but Jankowski will have arbitration rights and conceivably could be awarded a contract the Penguins do not find palatable. He was signed by Jim Rutherford in the hope that he would be a strong defensive presence and penalty-killer -- and perhaps elevate his offensive output to the level it reached a few years ago, when he was with Calgary -- but Jankowski has performed below expectations for much of the season. -- Molinari
• The Ontario Hockey League, one of the primary sources of young talent for NHL teams, announced a few days ago that it has called off the rest of the 2020-21 season because of pandemic-related issues. The Western Hockey League, meanwhile, made it known that it will not conduct playoffs this year, limiting its teams to a 24-game regular-season schedule. Abbreviated seasons make it tough for players who are eligible to be drafted by NHL clubs July 24-23 to show scouts what they can do, complicating the scouts' challenge of projecting which prospects have potential to develop into productive pros. "It's always a crapshoot, but there's no doubt this year is going to be more so," Hextall said. "Whether that's good or bad is really hard to say. I like our seventh-round picks, because you never know who might slide through if we can find him, but there's going to be a lot of research going into it. A lot of video, and whatnot. It's going to be a tough draft. The hardest thing for me, in running an organization, is the amateur draft. And this year, I think it's going to be even more difficult." -- Molinari
