Five Things the Pittsburgh Pirates Need to Do in June

Weed Out The 40-Man Roster

Getting prospects up here in a hurry means you have to weed out the 40-man roster quite a bit, and it should be quite simple as well. The Pirates’ 40-man roster is filled with guys who serve as seat warmers for better players. It’s time to start the great purge of the roster.

Cole Tucker was recently designated for assignment, but that was only to make room for another light-hitting utility man in Yu Chang. Hoy Park is still on the 40-man roster as well. I understand that not every single guy on the roster can’t be an all-star, and you need some depth guys as an insurance policy, but do we need more than three? Heck, do we need more than one?

The Pirates should DFA Heath Hembree and Aaron Fletcher to make room for Bolton and McGough. VanMeter is also a guy who should be on his way out the door. He’s a guy who has pretty much taken playing time away from greater prospects. If DFA’ing VanMeter means getting Bae on the roster, the Pirates need to take that opportunity.

Last but not least, they shouldn’t keep both Chase De Jong and Tyler Beede. I get you need a few low-leverage guys just in case, but there’s no real reason to keep two who can pitch multiple innings at a time. That roster spot could be used for a better pitcher.

I don’t expect the Pittsburgh Pirates to completely weed out all the below-replacement level players all in one month. That would be a challenge for even the best MLB teams. You still need at least a few emergency roster depth kind of guys in the event of an injury, and you can’t make a significant roster move immediately. But I at least expect this to be the start of the process.