Pittsburgh Pirates News: As 40-Man Roster Crunch Looms, Three Players Released

With 40-man roster decisions looming before Friday’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates have released three players

Prior to Friday’s deadline to protect prospects from the Rule 5 Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates are facing a roster crunch. Entering the day on Tuesday the Pirate 40-man roster was full. However, there are now three open spots on the team’s 40-man roster.

Tuesday evening the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they had released three players. These three players were pitcher Tanner Anderson, catcher Taylor Davis and utility man Phillip Evans.

Prior to the Pirates releasing them all three of these players were ones that we identified as locks to come off of the team’s 40-man roster ahead of Friday’s roster crunch. Releasing these three players now puts the Pirate 40-man roster at 37 players.

Anderson and Davis are career journeymen who have spent the majority of their profession careers in the minor leagues. The same goes for Evans, however, the difference with Evans is that at one point it appeared he could emerge as a long-term utility piece for the Pirates. That said, after struggling in his final 200 plate appearances of the season Evans showed why he was a career minor leaguer leading to him being released by the Pirates.

Ahead of Friday’s deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft there are anywhere from 7 to 10 prospects the Pirates will look to protect. Adding these players to the roster just became a tad bit easier with three roster spots now open. That said, there are at least 4 to 7 more roster spots that the Pirates will need to clear before Friday’s deadline.