4 players Pirates could claim off waivers by the end of August

Another trade deadline has come and gone, but this time, the Pittsburgh Pirates were buyers. They made moves that improve their roster now, including Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Bryan De La Cruz, as well as adding to the farm system, bringing in Nick Yorke and Billy Cook. While the opportunity to make an impact addition via trade has now passed, there could still be a chance later in August for the Pirates to add a last-minute reinforcement.

Last year, the Los Angeles Angels placed eight players on waivers in the last days of August. The Angels weren't the only team to put any players on waivers at the time, as the New York Yankees put outfielder Harrison Bader on waivers, the Chicago White Sox placed Mike Clevinger on the market, and the Mets and Tigers followed suit with Carlos Carrasco and Jose Cisneros. Most of these players were rentals whose teams fell out of the playoff race, with those clubs looking to save some money at the last minute.

It's possible we'll see some players hit waivers at the end of this month, just like last year. There might not be a team that does what the Angels did, placing over 30% of their roster on waivers, but we definitely could see some teams fall out of the race and put some of their players on expiring contracts on waivers to try and save a few bucks. If so, the Pirates should keep an eye out. But who are some players that could potentially hit waivers in August who the Pirates might have an opportunity to claim?

Scott Alexander

One left-handed reliever who could hit waivers at the end of August is Oakland Athletics lefty Scott Alexander. He's spent the last seven seasons with West Coast teams, but if the A's decide to shed some salary late into the season, he could find himself on another team before the end of the 2024 campaign.

Alexander has tossed 24 innings this year with a 3.00 ERA, 4.13 FIP, and 1.13 WHIP. The veteran has never struck out many batters, but his 14% strikeout rate entering the weekend would rank as the lowest single-season rate of his career (he upped it to 15.5% in Saturday's action). He has limited walks at an above average rate of 8.2%, as well as home runs with an 0.75 HR/9. 

Alexander has been hit uncharacteristically hard. He has a career 88.2 MPH exit velocity and 4.6 % barrel rate, but this season, he has an 88.5 MPH exit velo and 16.4% barrel rate. He still has a healthy 57.7% ground ball rate with a sub-30% flyball rate, despite his poor exit velocity.

2024 is another lost year for the Oakland Athletics, who are soon to be the Las Vegas Athletics. It would be in character for the A's to shed as much salary as possible before the end of this season. Alexander has been a solid middle reliever and one that could hit waivers late into August.

Hunter Strickland

The Los Angeles Angels held onto a few rentals at the trade deadline. One was right-hander Hunter Strickland. He's having his best season in quite a few years, and since he is hitting free agency at the end of the 2024 campaign, could definitely find himself on waivers in August.

Strickland has tossed 51 2/3 frames with a 3.66 ERA, 4.29 FIP, and 1.006 WHIP. He's only allowed 7.3% of opponents to reach via free pass, and has an 1.22 HR/9 rate, but he has struck out a meager 20.4% of opponents. While he's allowed a decent amount of hard-hit batted balls with an 89.1 MPH average exit velocity, he hasn't allowed much quality contact, sporting a 6.8% barrel rate.

However, there are some remaining questions about Strickland's strong season's sustainability. He has just a .214 batting average on balls in play. His BABIP and left on-base rate over his last 19.2 innings (entering play on Friday) sat at .119 and 100%, meaning his course correction against the Mets felt long overdue. According to SIERA and xFIP, Strickland isn't pitching much differently than he has for his career. The veteran has a 4.13 SIERA and 4.77 xFIP this year, compared to a 3.99 and 4.51 mark for his career, respectively.

The Angels are well out of the American League West and even further out of the Wild Card race. A solid middle reliever isn't going to help their current situation, and given what the Angels did last year in August, it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they did it again by placing some rentals on waivers to shed salary.

John Brebbia

Aside from John Brebbia's ERA (6.26), he has some solid numbers under the hood. Brebbia has always been a good strikeout pitcher, but his 28.3% K% is right in line with the best marks of his career. He has also been good at limiting free passes and has a 7.5% BB% this year. Brebbia's 1.30 HR/9 isn't good, but he has a respectable 7.7% barrel rate, and his 12.5% HR/FB ratio indicates some bad luck.

ERA estimators like his body of work this year. Brebbia has a 3.58 xFIP and 3.12 SIERA. Along with bad flyball luck, Brebbia has a .360 opponent BABIP. The White Sox's defense makes the Pirates' look like they have Gold Glovers at all nine positions. They have -62 defensive runs saved, the fewest in baseball by a margin of 33 DRS. They are also viewed poorly by outs above average at -28 (second worst in the league), and their catchers have been the worst pitch framers with -7.9 framing runs.

Plus, at this point, Brebbia may also play better with a change of scenery. The White Sox are on pace for a historically bad season. They sport an ongoing 20-game losing streak, and have already somehow exceeded the Pirates' 2023 loss total.

The difference between Brebbia and the other names talked about today is that Brebbia isn't a pure rental. He has a team option for 2025, along with a buyout worth $1.5 million. The White Sox might look to shed Brebbia's remaining salary and pin the $1.5 million buyout/$6 million team option on another team.