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Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Notable Players in DFA Limbo

By Noah Wright

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 10: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Cole Tucker #3 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 10, 2021 in New York City. The Pirates defeated the Mets 6-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 10: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Cole Tucker #3 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action against the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 10, 2021 in New York City. The Pirates defeated the Mets 6-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 10: Kevin Newman #27 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on September 10, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 10: Kevin Newman #27 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on September 10, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) /

Due to prospects who are Rule 5 Draft eligible and potential additions, this offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates will may have to remove as many as 20 players off of their 40-man roster. But there will be some noteworthy players that eventually get designated for assignment.

When you take a look at the Pittsburgh Pirates roster you can probably name a ton of players who could get designated for assignment throughout the off-season. With a ton of Rule 5 eligible players that the team will be looking to protect, it’s quite possible we see many noteworthy names get kicked off the 40-man roster this upcoming off-season.

Some of these names are worth a second look as they were either once one of the Pirates’ top prospects, had a solid season a few years ago, or one of the more popular names on the Pirates’ roster in general. Now, this doesn’t mean that they will 100% get a DFA, but they’re definitely in limbo of reaching that point.

Kevin Newman

The first-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2015, middle infielder Kevin Newman had a solid rookie campaign back in 2019. However, since then, he only has a 54 wRC+. Newman’s lack of hard-hit balls and high ground ball rate has led to his downfall.

This season the right-handed batter is hitting just .223/.261/.310 with a .248 wOBA, and 53 wRC+ in 523 trips to the plate. Newman is still in the bottom second and third percentiles of exit velocity (85.2 MPH) and hard-hit rate (26.1%). Newman’s wRC+ ranks last in all of baseball among players with at least 500 plate appearances. The next lowest, which is owned by David Fletcher, is 18% better than him with a 71 wRC+ mark. Not only is it the worst offensive season this year, but the 5th worst since the beginning of 2010 (min. 500 PAs).

The one thing that Newman has going for him is his massive strides in defense. Newman was previously a well below-average defender at shortstop, having -10 DRS and a -12.4 UZR/150 between 2019 and 2020. Among all shortstops between these two years, he ranked 8th to last in DRS, and last in UZR/150 among shortstops with at least 800 innings played at the position. but this year, he has +6 DRS, a 6.8 UZR/150, and is in the top 81st percentile of outs above average. Overall, he’s been Gold Glove-caliber at the positions.

However, is that enough to get him out of DFA limbo? I doubt it is. A sub-50 wRC+ in any role that is not a second catcher is awful. It’s also not like Newman plays a position that has little to no competition at either. At Triple-A, the Pittsburgh Pirates have Diego Castillo, Rodolfo Castro, Tucpita Marcano, and Oneil Cruz. All four can play shortstop, and aside from Cruz, have experience at second base as well.

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