Pirates place trio of players (2 former top prospects) on waivers to start offseason

The Pirates recently claimed Dugan Darnell off waivers from the Rockies and that move put Pittsburgh with 43 players on their 40-man roster. For the team to protect any notable prospects such as Esmerlyn Valdez from the Rule 5 Draft, they needed to make a minimum of four cuts to their 40-man.

The Pirates reportedly made the first three of their roster cleanup, and they included two former top prospects that never worked out.

According to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the Pirates placed Liover Peguero, Ji-Hwan Bae, and Jack Little on waivers. This has them even, so to protect Valdez and others, there should be at least one or more closer to the protection deadline on Nov. 18.

This group of moves really reminds fans of how poor this player development group has been, especially with one of the more notable prospects Ben Cherington has acquired in Peguero.

Pirates place Liover Peguero, Ji-Hwan Bae, and Jack Little on waivers to clear up space ahead of Rule 5 Draft.

In 2021, Peguero was ranked the fifth-best prospect in the organization, according to MLB Pipeline. That was shortly after acquiring him from the Diamondbacks in the Starling Marte deal. He debuted in 2022, got a significant role in 2023 with the Oneil Cruz injury, and just never seemed to find a groove.

Peguero got an chance again in 2025 and even had a three-homer game in Colorado, but finished the season with a .635 OPS and a 76 wRC+. He also ran out of options, so the Pirates couldn't just keep him down in Indianapolis.

Bae had a pretty similar story, but he still had an option remaining. He was the 14th-ranked prospect in the organization in 2021, per MLB Pipeline. He was given plenty of opportunities and regressed in each season from 2022-2025. This past year, his wRC+ fell to THREE (3). His career OPS of .586 was also extremely poor.

Lastly is Little. He has yet to make his MLB debut after being claimed off waivers from the Dodgers last season. He did very well in Triple-A too, so his removal was somewhat surprising. With Indianapolis, his ERA sat at 2.79 alongside a 3.19 FIP.

This is a big step in the right direction with moving on from Peguero and Bae. They have just not proven anything in their time with the Pirates. There are still a handful of players that need to go in similar situations as these guys, so we'll see what Cherington has left in store with the offseason underway.