On Sunday, the Pirates did something for the 13th time this year. They made a waiver claim.
The latest pickup is third baseman/outfielder Miguel Andújar, who was claimed from the Yankees Sunday. He's a former top 100 prospect and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 after hitting 47 doubles and racking up over 300 total bases, but a long series of injuries have held him back since then, appearing in only 105 major-league games since the start of the 2019 season. During that time, he's only had a .573 OPS, though his minor-league results are at least more promising.
Hey, the Pirates and Yankees discusses an Andújar for Gerrit Cole trade back in 2018, and now each of them are on the other team. Now we wait for Clint Frazier too, right?
If you want to know more about Andújar, I would recommend this post from Joshua Diemert from Pinstripe Alley, which covers some of the areas where he has struggled since the start of the 2019 season.
Could Andújar be a contributor in 2023? It's possible. It's also fair to be skeptical of any player who is brought in through waivers because it means their own team was willing to give them away for almost free.
And in the Pirates' case, they certainly have made plenty of waiver claims these last few years, but despite cycling in so many new players, you'd be hard-pressed to say any of them have made a noticeable positive impact on the field.
Since the start of the new major-league season back in November, the Pirates have made 13 waiver claims that went through. They are, in order of when they were claimed: Left-hander Eric Handhold, outfielder Greg Allen, left-hander Aaron Fletcher, right-hander Adonis Medina, right-hander Tyler Beede, catcher Tyler Heineman, catcher José Godoy, utilityman Kevin Padlo, right-hander Tyler Stephenson, right-hander Peter Solomon, catcher/first baseman Zack Collins, right-hander Junior Fernandez and Andújar.
They also traded for six more players who had been designated for assignment by their own team and were available via waivers. They are: Infielder Josh VanMeter, infielder Yu Chang, left-hander Eric Stout, left-hander Manny Bañuelos, left-hander Jeremy Beasley and right-hander Yohan Ramirez.
The concept of WAR can sometimes be difficult to explain because of the concept of a "replacement level" player. By definition, they are players who are very easy to obtain if a team needs another player. This could either be through minor-league free agency, promoting a AAAA player to the majors or, perhaps the best example, claiming someone off of waivers. That doesn't mean every player on waivers is going to provide replacement-level production, but it's a good estimate.
In the Pirates' case, of the 13 waiver claims who have appeared in a game with them (Handhold, Medina, Fernandez, Solomon, Beasley and Andújar are the exceptions), only Heineman and Stephenson have produced a positive WAR (0.2) for both. In total, those 14 players have combined for -2.1 WAR, going by Baseball Reference's calculations.
This wouldn't be such an issue if it wasn't for the fact that those waiver players have received a good chunk of playing time. Entering Sunday, hitters claimed off waivers this year accounted for 7.7% of all Pirate plate appearances at hitters and 12.3% of innings as pitchers. That means that just about 10% of the meaning playing time up for grabs has gone to players that other teams gave up on mid-season.
The bullpen is the most noticeable area where you see that playing time going to. Stephenson, Bañuelos, Stout, Ramirez and Duane Underwood Jr. have accounted for a large chunk of the team's late and leverage innings this month. While Stephenson has done well in his short cameo, the rest of the bullpen has struggled. Pirate relievers have posted a 6.60 ERA in the month of September, and one has to look at the group of relievers they have to pull from right now and how they were acquired as a major reason why.
And if you're wondering if taking 19 players off waivers is a lot, consider this: The Pirates took 19 players in total in 2020 and 2021. The results were more or less than the same -- those 19 players accounted for -1.7 WAR, with Dillon Peters and Nick Tropeano being the only two to post at least half a win in their Pirate careers -- but the sheer number of claims in 2022 indicates one thing: They were desperately looking for quick stopgaps to fill larger holes.
It's one thing when a player like Roberto Pérez gets hurt and they have to scour the waiver wire for catching help like Heineman and Godoy. It's another when they go into the season without much insurance among leverage relievers besides David Bednar, Chris Stratton and Heath Hembree, the latter two of whom did not pitch well in that role.
They're paying for that lack of investment into the major-league roster. A waiver claim is a lottery ticket, but a high volume doesn't increase the odds of finding a gem. And the only way to know if your pickup was a hit is to give them playing time, taking away playing opportunities for a different player or prospect.
Consider a case like Allen. On his 93.7 The Fan Radio Show Sunday, Ben Cherington said that at this time, he didn't anticipate calling up more prospects from Class AAA Indianapolis this season. For someone like Travis Swaggerty, what does it mean that the Pirates are more willing to give a couple players who will likely not be on the roster come the end of the season more major-league reps over him? It might say more about Swaggerty and what the organization thinks of him, but shouldn't he have gotten another look in the majors again, if for no other reason than he is a former first-round pick and his competition is a waiver claim who is basically playing at that level?
Or is Swaggerty about to become the type of player the Pirates tend to pick up off waivers: The former first-round pick or top 100 prospect. Collins, Stephenson and Andújar are the most recent pickups who fit that bill, but there was also Anthony Banda, Anthony Alford, Dustin Fowler and more. There's a catch with these claims. Sure, they have perceived upside, but the team that let go of them knew that too and still parted ways. More times than not, that tells the story.
Does that mean the Pirates should abandon the waiver wire? Absolutely not. They just can't be as reliant on it to try to fill holes. They'll add a fresh batch of prospects to the 40 man roster in November, which should cut down on the number of spots available for waiver claims.
But when reflecting on 2022, we'll have to think about how about 10% of the playing time went to players who, on the whole, didn't make a positive impact on the team.
