Pittsburgh Pirates Make Series of Minor League Moves

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a couple of minor league roster moves.  Here is the latest on what the Bucs added and subtracted.

During the course of the Major League Baseball season, teams are always looking to add players and subtract ones that they do not feel will help them.  The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the season with 37 active players on their 40 man roster.  With that, the organization spoke about how they wanted to leave roster room incase players came along that they wanted to add.

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates added a player on a waiver claim.  The Los Angeles Dodgers placed right-handed pitcher Jesus Liranzo on the waiver wire.  This comes a week or so after the Dodgers claimed Liranzo from the Baltimore Orioles.   The 23-year-old righty has a good chance to stick with the Pittsburgh Pirates being they still have several 40 man roster spots available.

Liranzo signed with the Atlanta Braves as an international free agent from the Dominican Republic.  However, the Braves released him the next season and he signed with Baltimore, where he stayed until this past March.  Here is the scouting report from MLB Pipeline on Liranzo, who will report to Double-A:

"“Liranzo generates easy plus velocity with his lightning-quick arm, sitting at 93-95 mph and touching higher at times. His above-average slider complements his fastball nicely, and the pairing enabled him to rack up 66 strikeouts in 53 total innings last season, during which he held hitters to a .116 average. Liranzo also throws a splitter, giving him a chance against left-handed hitters.”"

Next: Pittsburgh Pirates #4 Prospect

The other minor move the Pittsburgh Pirates made was one that piggy backed off a decision the team made when they broke camp.  In the offseason, the Bucs added left-handed reliever Kevin Siegrist on minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.  Siegrist did not make the roster out of Spring and was optioned to Triple-A.  The Pittsburgh Pirates hoped that Siegrist would continue to work back and eventually make the club.  Instead, the former Cardinal refused to report after accepting his assignment, causing the Pirates to suspend the veteran. This was reported by mlb.com Pittsburgh Pirates beat writer Adam Berry. This move is disappointing, as in the long run Siegrist may have been a better option than current lefty reliever Josh Smoker.  With Siegrist being suspended, it’ll be interesting to see what plays out with him and the Pirates over the next few days.