Just 48 hours after he elected free agency, veteran utility man Nick Solak re-signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday on a minor league contract.
The Pirates selected Solak's contract from Triple-A Indianapolis in the middle of May, but he saw limited action, going 1-for-11 with two strikeouts over four games. He was bumped off the 40-man roster earlier this week when Nick Gonzales was activated off the IL and had to be outrighted to Triple-A since he was out of minor league options.
Solak rejected his outright assignment, opting instead to elect free agency. His stint on the open market was short lived, however, as he re-signed with Pittsburgh on a restructured minor league contact. Solak returns to Indianapolis, where he is hitting .393/.452/.625 with six homers across 126 plate appearances this season.
Pirates News: Tanner Rainey elects free agency, Carson Fulmer returns to Angels
Right-handed reliever Tanner Rainey, whom the Pirates designated for assignment on June 2, has also elected free agency. Rainey rejected his outright assignment after he was booted off the 40-man roster when the Pirates claimed utility man Ronny Simón off waivers from the Miami Marlins earlier this week.
Rainey, who signed with Pittsburgh on a minor-league deal, opened the season with Indianapolis and allowed six earned runs over nine innings for a 6.00 ERA out of the bullpen. The Pirates selected Rainey's contract on May 3 after placing reliever Justin Lawrence on the 60-day injured list, and he struggled to a 10.57 ERA with nine earned runs over 7 2/3 innings pitched.
The Pirates designated Rainey for assignment after his worst outing of the season on June 1, when he gave up four earned runs in 1/3 of an inning to the San Diego Padres.
In other minor league free agency news, right-hander Carson Fulmer is headed back to the Los Angeles Angels organization after being released by Pittsburgh earlier this week. Fulmer, who had spent the previous two seasons in the Angels organization, signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates and had a bumpy start to the 2025 Triple-A campaign that saw him relegated from Indianapolis' starting rotation to the bullpen before his eventual release.
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