Pittsburgh Pirates News: Flurry Of Roster Moves

After a flurry of roster moves by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday afternoon, the team’s 40-man roster now has multiple open spots

Friday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a flurry of roster moves. This included adding catcher Michael Perez via waiver claim after he was designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays.

In addition to adding Perez, the Pittsburgh Pirates cut ties with muiltiple players. They also lost a pair of players on waivers. These two players were pitchers Brandon Waddell and Nick Tropeano.

The Pirate letting Waddell go was no surprise. However, moving on from Tropeano was a bit of a surprise. In 15.2 innings pitched Tropeano posted a 1.15 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 6.1% walk rate, and a 28.8% strikeout rate.

While Tropeano was never going to be a great pticher for the Pirates, he had the looks of being a qualitylong reliever for the Pirates. In fact, it appeared he had pitched his way into being a bullpen option for the Pirates in 2021.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also reinstated four players from the injured list. These four players were utility man Kevin Kramer, pticher Yacksel Rios, catcher Luke Maile, and outfielder Jason Martin. Each of these four players were then outrighted off the 40-man roster.

Of these four, none were overly surprising. Had the Pirates not added Perez, moving on from Maile, who missed all of 2020 due to surgery, would have been a surprise. But with Perez now in the fold, Maile became expendable.

Another player that was let go was catcher John Ryan Murphy. Earlier this week JRM was identified as a potential offseason DFA candidate for the Pirates. Murphy cleared waivers, and was then released by the Pirates. He is now a free agent.

With these moves, the 40-man roster now has just 36 players on it for the Pirates. This frees up 40-man roster spaces as the offseason begins and the team looks to add players via free agency and trades. It will also give them room to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.