Pirates reunite with slugging Triple-A infielder after latest waiver claim

Not even 24 hours after the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series victory over the New York Yankees, teams across the league had already begun making offseason transactions.

General manager Ben Cherington had already gotten the Pittsburgh Pirates on the board with the signing of minor leaguer Yohan Ramirez, but on Thursday he claimed infielder Tristan Gray off of waivers from the Oakland Athletics.

Pirates claim infielder Tristan Gray off waivers from Athletics

Gray is a 28-year-old who plays everywhere in the infield. He was originally drafted by the Pirates in the 13th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. The following offseason, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in a package for outfielder Corey Dickerson.

Throughout his minor-league career, Gray has been known as a power hitter. In both 2022 and 2023, Gray hit 30 or more home runs at the Triple-A level. One issue that lies with that power, however, is his strikeout rate. In each of those seasons, he had a strikeout percentage greater than 31%. That made him finish below average in wRC+ as his best in those two was just 96.

In 2024, Gray had a very similar year with the Miami Marlins before getting placed on waivers and ultimately claimed by the Athletics. Across both teams, Gray had a batting average of .251 with 19 home runs and drove in 64 runs. He also had an OPS of .789 and a strikeout percentage of 25.7%. He had a decent amount of extra-base hits aswell, including 25 doubles and four triples.

Gray made it to the MLB in 2023 and 2024 but did not do much. In his first stint, he got five at-bats and had two hits, including a home run. The second time around in 2024 was not pretty, as he finished with a batting average of .107 with an OPS of .336 and a strikeout percentage of 51.6%.

Overall, Gray is nothing more than a depth piece in Triple-A. He is not a guy who will make the Pirates' Opening Day roster, but he will compete in the spring to be a guy who gets recalled when someone goes down with an injury.

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