3 Pirates players who shouldn’t be on the 40-man roster by spring training

The Pittsburgh Pirates' 40-man roster currently includes 38 players (including Elvis Alvarado). If the Pirates add more than two more MLB players during the rest of this offseason -- by either signing them to major league contracts, or by acquiring someone who is already on a 40-man roster in trade, they'll have to DFA, trade, or release a player they currently have. 

There's still a lot of offseason left. The free agent market continues to hold plenty of realistic options that would significantly improve the Pirates' roster, as does the trade market. Acquiring three or more players and adding them to the 40-man roster between now and the start of spring training seems like a total possibility (and maybe a necessity). If and when that time comes, who are some players fans shouldn't expect to be on the roster when the preseason begins?

3 Pirates who won't be on 40-man roster by spring training

Alika Williams

The Pirates acquired Alika Williams from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for relief pitcher Robert Stephenson during the 2023 season. While Williams was once a first-round pick, he certainly hasn't lived up to the expectations of being selected 37th overall in 2020. He has been a fine defender, but that's about where the positives end for Williams.

Williams has provided woeful offensive production in the major leagues. In 208 plate appearances, Williams has hit .202/.257/.271 with a .237 wOBA and 44 wRC+. He has yet to hit a home run and has an isolated slugging percentage well below .100 at .069. Williams has walked at a 5.8% clip with a poor 27.4% K%. Williams has shown bottom-of-the-barrel raw power, with just an 85.3 MPH average exit velocity and 3.6% barrel percentage. 

Williams cut his strikeout rate down from 31.3% in '23 to just 22.9% in '24, but this also caused his walk rate to drop from 8% to 3.1%. On top of that, it didn't improve his overall offense. His OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ all remained nearly identical between the two seasons.

At the very least, Williams has hit well at Triple-A. He owns a .308/.384/.455 triple-slash in 334 plate appearances over the last two seasons for Indianapolis. Williams hasn't struck out at a high rate, with a 16.8% K% and a whiff rate clocking in at 20.8%. That has amounted to a .376 wOBA and 118 wRC+. However, despite the strong numbers, the lack of enough raw power to make an impact is still very evident. Williams has just an 85.3 MPH exit velocity and a 3.4% barrel rate at the level.

Williams is a speedy, defense-first middle infielder, of which there are dozens. The Pirates already have a better version in Jared Triolo on the active roster. He's an even better defender and can play more positions than Williams can. On top of that, he hit much better than Williams has, and provided playable offense at the end of the 2024 campaign.