Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Locks to Come off the 40-Man Roster

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 21: Left fielder Jared Oliva #14 of the Pittsburgh Pirates catches a fly ball hit by Josh Rojas #10 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on July 21, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JULY 21: Left fielder Jared Oliva #14 of the Pittsburgh Pirates catches a fly ball hit by Josh Rojas #10 of the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning of the MLB game at Chase Field on July 21, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 30: Tanner Anderson #63 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the fourth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 30, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 30: Tanner Anderson #63 of the Pittsburgh Pirates delivers a pitch in the fourth inning during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on September 30, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

The Pittsburgh Pirates are facing a massive 40-man roster crunch this offseason which will lead to a 40-man roster purge

This offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates will face a 40-man roster crunch. There are at least 12-15 prospects the Pirates will want to add to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

There will also be the need to make room to the 40-man roster for offseason additions that the Pittsburgh Pirates make, as well as players who are activated off of the 60-day injured list. All told, the Pirates will have a lot of work to do with their 40-man roster this offseason.

While there will undoubtedly be tough decisions to be made for the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason, some 40-man roster decisions will be easy ones. This includes these five players who are locks to be removed from the 40-man roster.

Right-handed reliever Tanner Anderson

After making his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018 righty Tanner Anderson returned to the black and gold in 2021. Prior to joining the Pirates in September the Harvard product pitched 36.2 innings in 17 games for Triple-A Indianapolis this season.

Anderson made just one appearance for the Pirates in September, pitching 5 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, no walks and a strikeout in this outing. While Anderson pitched 5 strong innings in his lone outing in 2021, he will not be one of the first players removed from the 40-man roster this offseason.