3 intriguing Pittsburgh Pirates players stuck in DFA limbo going into the offseason

The Pittsburgh Pirates must finalize the first version of their 40-man roster by Nov. 18. They’ve already made several moves to make room on the roster, and will likely need to make more so they can add prospects to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Players like Colin Holderman, Jack Suwinski, and Alexander Canario are obvious veterans who are in danger of being ditched before that point. However, the Pirates may have a slightly tougher time deciding between these three players while planning their upgrades.

While none of the three had excellent 2025 seasons on the surface, their numbers underneath the hood make them interesting players who might get stuck in DFA limbo.

The Pirates may have to make a difficult decision on these players with upside, as they are in DFA limbo.

Enmanuel Valdez

Enmanuel Valdez was acquired during the previous offseason from the Boston Red Sox, in exchange for minor league reliever Joe Vogatsky. The Pirates called upon Valdez to help the infield depth early in the 2025 season, with Nick Gonzales getting hurt during the first game of the year, and Spencer Horwitz starting the year on the IL after undergoing a wrist procedure. The results may not have been pretty, and his season ended prematurely, but the numbers under the hood should make the Pirates think twice about slicing him.

Valdez stepped to the plate 102 times, batting .209/.294/.363 with a mediocre .290 wOBA and 82 wRC+. After a bout with shoulder inflammation, Valdez eventually underwent surgery on his non-throwing shoulder, eliminating him for the rest of the year. On the surface, that may seem like someone who's an obvious DFA candidate, but digging just a bit deeper willshow you some interesting numbers.

Despite the poor results, Valdez had a solid .339 xwOBA with a .264 xBA and .433 xSLG%. His average exit velocity came in at 89.8 MPH, which was likely impacted by playing through shoulder issues. Valdez made good swing decisions as well. He only had a 26.6% chase rate, and drew 11 walks for a 10.8% BB%. The infielder also didn’t strike out often, with a 21.5% whiff rate and 15.7% K%.

Valdez mostly played first base with the Pirates, and has experience at second base, third base, and even some in the outfield corners. The Pirates are starved for offense, and Valdez definitely showed flashes of more in the tank. It's up to Ben Cherington to decide if the upside is worth taking another shot on and giving him a 40-man roster spot before Nov. 18.

Yohan Ramirez

Yohan Ramirez made his return to the Pirates in 2025. His first stint with the Bucs was during 2022 and 2023, and he then bounced around with five different teams, including the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, LA Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox, before landing back in Pittsburgh. Despite the poor ERA, Ramirez looked better in '25 than he did during his first go-around with the Pirates.

Ramirez tossed 33.1 innings, working to the tune of a 5.40 ERA and 1.47 WHIP, but while maintaining a 3.80 FIP. He fooled plenty of batters, getting a strikeout 29% of the time, and gathering whiffs at a 25.8% rate. He also had a respectable 1.08 HR/9 ratio, despite a poor 13.3% barrel percentage. Walks and command are areas in which Ramirez has consistently struggled throughout his career. His free pass percentage came in at a poor 10.8% rate last season.

So what is there to Ramirez that would make the Pirates keep him around? He still has a solid 3.76 xFIP and 3.34 SIERA, two numbers that wouldn’t look out of place for a middle reliever. Most of Ramirez’s struggles came from his four-seam fastball, a pitch he utilized more than any other offering in his arsenal. Three of the four home runs, and 21 of the 33 total hits he allowed, came off his four-seamer. However, his sweeper and curveball were both next to unhittable, with a sub-.300 xwOBA on each pitch. He induced a whiff more than a third of the time in which he threw them. His sinker ended up being a more useful weapon, too, with a .355 xwOBA, negative launch angle, and 80.7 MPH exit velocity.

But the obvious question is where does he fit in with all the other Pirates pitchers? The back end of the Pirates’ bullpen seems set, with Dennis Santana as the closer, and the likes of Isaac Mattson, Justin Lawrence, Dauri Moreta, and possibly even Carmen Mlodzinski as set-up options. Kyle Nicolas may have saved himself from a DFA after a promising end to 2025. There is also a lot more talent coming up through the Pirates’ system that may see time out of the bullpen. The one thing that may save Ramirez is that guys like Colin Holderman, Cam Sanders, Jack Little, and Michael Darrell-Hicks are more likely to go before him (some of whom were already cut loose in Pittsburgh's first big roster purge on Thursday). But, if push comes to shove, Ramirez may end up on the chopping block.

Will Robertson

Ben Cherington continued his affinity for former Toronto Blue Jays prospects by recently picking up outfielder Will Robertson off waivers from the Chicago White Sox. Robertson made his MLB debut this year, and stepped to the plate 75 times, struggling mightily in that small sample size. He collected nine hits with 27 Ks, as well as only two walks with the Jays and White Sox.

Nonetheless, Robertson had some very good numbers at Triple-A. He combined to hit .289/.387/.571 with a .414 wOBA and 148 wRC+ over 354 plate appearances for the Blue Jays and White Sox’s Triple-A affiliates. There was no question about his power output, as he went yard 19 times with a .282 isolated slugging percentage. Overall, he was a top ten hitter at the Triple-A level. Among hitters with at least 300 plate appearances, Robertson ranked top ten in OPS, wOBA, wRC+, and ISO.

Robertson has always had a power-over-hit profile, but there were some major improvements made in the hit department in 2025. The outfielder struck out in 31.3% of his plate appearances in 2024 with a 35.3% whiff rate at Triple-A in 2024. He cut both numbers down significantly this past season, with only a 24.8% K% and 28.6% whiff rate. He did that while maintaining good raw power. His exit velocity and barrel rate in 2025 were 90.8 MPH and 12.7%, compared to 90.5 MPH and 8.1% in 2024. He also upped his BB% from 10.5% to 13.6%.

The Pirates need hitting, and Robertson is making big improvements in the weakest area of his game. However, it’s not as if Robertson is a formerly high profile prospect. Baseball America never ranked him higher than the Jays’ 23rd best prospect, while MLB Pipeline never put him higher than their 24th best, with both grades coming heading into 2021. Robertson struggling badly in the major leagues was also not a promising sign, even if it was a small sample size. Even though his improvements may be intriguing, both his K% and whiff rate are still below average. He’ll likely be a DFA option if/when the Pirates acquire a position player.