Jake Elmore has been Designated for Assignment

Since the beginning of the 2012 season, Jake Elmore has been a part of six different franchises. He has been on the waiver wire, claimed and purchased. At least Elmore knows that he is a wanted commodity in baseball, even if he has not stayed in one place that long.

Yesterday, the well traveled Elmore has once again received his walking papers, being designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates as they made room on the 40 man roster for Jeong-ho Kang. Of course, this does not mean that Elmore will leave the Pirates system; he could well remain in the minors and just be off the 40 man roster.

However, given Jake Elmore’s history on the waiver wire, he will not remain there for long. In fact, the Pirates themselves selected Elmore off the waiver wire on November 7, 2014, when he had been on the wire for a day. For someone who has been deemed as expendable as often as he has been, Elmore gets picked up rather quickly almost every time.

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The popularity of Elmore would not seem immediately obvious. He is, after all, a career .221/.288/.291 batter with all of ten extra base hits in 199 career at bats. That 60 OPS+ is not exactly something that makes anyone envision that Elmore would be a viable major league player. Perhaps he could be minor league filler, but that would be it.

However, Jake Elmore does have one thing that makes him such a valued commodity – his defensive versatility. Elmore, in his 87 major league games, has played every position on the diamond, even throwing a perfect inning for the Astros in 2013. That versatility can certainly have value, but with players like Kang, Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison on the roster, Elmore just is not someone that the Pirates can afford to keep on the 40 man roster.

Jake Elmore, based on his track record, will likely land with another team soon. I just hope that he has a month to month lease wherever he ends up.

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