Pirates squander easy trade deadline win after surprising DFA

The Pittsburgh Pirates needed a roster spot for catcher Shawn Ross on Friday. Somehow, that routine piece of roster housekeeping ended with them potentially giving away a trade deadline asset for nothing.

Ross had his contract selected from Triple-A Indianapolis after Rafael Flores Jr. landed on the 10-day injured list with a concussion. The 26-year-old is hitting just .163/.272/.327 at Triple-A, and with Endy Rodríguez beginning a rehab assignment with Indianapolis Friday as he works his way back from a glute injury, Ross' first stint in the majors could be extremely brief.

To make room on the 40-man roster, though, the Pirates made a far more surprising move and designated right-hander José Urquidy for assignment.

Urquidy hasn't exactly been knocking down the door for a rotation spot, but he has been perfectly respectable in Indianapolis. He owns a 3.66 ERA there this season and has been even better lately, posting a 1.74 ERA over his last six starts.

For a veteran pitcher with significant major-league experience, that's the kind of performance that should at least create some modest trade value ahead of the deadline. Instead, Pittsburgh has now exposed him to waivers.

Pirates' surprising José Urquidy DFA may come back to haunt them as trade deadline approaches

Maybe the Pirates are confident Urquidy will go unclaimed and eventually accept an outright assignment back to Indianapolis. Maybe they have reason to believe another team won't want to take on his contract. Or perhaps a trade is still possible during the DFA window, and Pittsburgh is hoping an interested club will make an offer rather than risk losing him on waivers.

All of those explanations are plausible, but none make the decision feel particularly satisfying. The Pirates are supposed to be approaching this deadline differently. They're contenders, and even if Urquidy wasn't going to contribute directly to a playoff push, he represented the type of expendable depth piece a front office should be trying to turn into something useful.

Nobody was expecting a top prospect in return. But a lottery-ticket minor leaguer, international bonus money or even another depth reliever would have been better than potentially receiving nothing.

Trading Urquidy would have been an easy deadline win: Move a veteran who appears buried on the depth chart, clear the exact roster spot you already needed and add something — anything — to the organization in return. Instead, Ben Cherington and the Pirates risk watching a perfectly serviceable trade chip walk away for free.

Perhaps Urquidy clears waivers and this becomes a footnote. But with the deadline approaching, the Pirates shouldn't be leaving even the smallest opportunities on the table.

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