Pittsburgh Pirates News: Pablo Reyes Designated for Assignment

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed a new player to a contract yesterday.  By signing someone, the Bucs had to open up a spot on their 40 man roster.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed their first Major League free agent yesterday in outfielder Guillermo Heredia.  Earlier this offseason, Heredia was designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays who traded for him during the 2019 season.  He will likely be the team’s fourth outfielder and has multiple years of control left.

The team also added free agent catcher Luke Maile back in December.  The signings of Maile put the 40 man roster at 40.  When they signed Heredia they had to make room for him on the 40 man roster meaning someone would need to be designated for assignment.

Ben Cherington and company decided that utility man Pablo Reyes would be the one to be taken off the roster.  This was a somewhat surprising move given how much time he has received over the last two seasons, his age, and positional flexibility.  There is the chance that he could clear waivers, but given those factors, a team will likely take a flyer on him.

The undersized Reyes always put up strong numbers in the minor leagues.  However, he never hit for a lot of power and really did not lock down a position defensively.  His first taste of big-league action came in September of 2018.  He performed well, hitting .286 and popping three home runs.  In doing so, Reyes set himself up to be a bench piece for the Pittsburgh Pirates entering 2019.

Last season did not go as well for Reyes.  He got off to a slow start and found himself demoted back to Triple-A.  The Bucs recalled him later in the season, but he never produced the way he did the previous fall.  Across his 71 games, he only hit .203 with a .596 OPS and he graded out negative at every infield and outfield position he played.

Pablo Reyes was an interesting prospect at one point as he worked his way up the minor league system.  He made a strong first impression during September of 2018 but proved that it was just September baseball that led to his success.  In 2019 his flaws were exposed on both sides of the ball and it makes sense why the team decided to designate him for assignment.  If Ben Cherington has shown anything so far this offseason, it’s that he is not afraid to cut players that the previous regime tried to use as legitimate big league options.