Pittsburgh Pirates: Roster Moves Could Be Coming Later This Week

With the deadline to protect prospects from he Rule 5 Draft being this Friday, there could be roster moves coming from the Pittsburgh Pirates this week

Every offseason, part of the MLB Winter Meetings is the Rule 5 Draft. While the Winter Meetings will occur virtually this offseason, the Rule 5 Draft will still happen. The 2020 Rule 5 Draft is set to take place on December 10th, and the Pittsburgh Pirates will have the top pick in the draft.

In order to protect Rule 5 Draft eligible minor league players, MLB teams must add them to the 40-man roster. This offseason, the deadline to add players to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is this Friday, November 20th. Due to this, there could be roster moves coming from the Pittsburgh Pirates later this week.

Currently, the Pittsburgh Pirates have 40 players on their 40-man roster. Due to this, in order to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft, the Pirates will have to remove players from their 40-man roster. Odds are, these moves are coming.

Prospects such as Max Kranick and Rodolfo Castro are strong candidates to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. Braeden Ogle and Yerry De Los Santos could be in the discussion as well. So, the Pittsburgh Pirates could be looking to open up multiple 40-man roster spots this week.

There are multiple players on the Pirate roster who could be removed. Reliever Tyler Bashlor would seem like a safe bet to be removed from the 40-man roster, the same can be said about fellow reliever Sean Poppen.

Starting pitcher Trevor Williams and infielder Erik Gonzalez are both candidates to be non-tendered this offseason. If the Pirates plan to do that, then letting them go now would make sense and would not come as a surprise. Pticher Carson Fulmer and INF/OF Jose Osuna are DFA candidates, too.

Regardless of how things sake out, odds are, there will be a few roster moves coming from the Pirates this week. Make sure to stay tuned here at Rum Bunter for all and any breaking roster news as the week progresses.