Pittsburgh Pirates: State of the 40-Man Roster Ahead of the MLB Winter Meetings

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As the MLB Winter Meetings prepare to start, what does the Pittsburgh Pirates 40-man roster currently look like?

Sunday evening, the 2023 MLB Winter Meetings will kick off in Nashville. The Winter Meetings not only lead to teams across baseball making plenty of trades and free agent signings, but they also set the table for moves that happen in the ensuing weeks. During the Winter Meetings, you will typically see team's 40-man rosters change. Will that happen with the Pittsburgh Pirates?

Thus far, the Pirate offseason is off to a slow, frustrating, disappointing start. Especially since they already have the worst roster in the National League Central, and much of the rest of the division has been aggressive in one fashion or another.

Despite this, you have to assume that general manager Ben Cherington will make some moves during or shortly after the Winter Meetings. If he does not, then Pirate fans have every right to be outraged and expect the 2024 season to be yet another long, painful, losing one.

Ahead of the start of the Winter Meetings, what does the Pirate 40-man roster currently look like? Today, we will dive into the current construction of the 40-man roster, spots that are available, and who could be in danger of losing their 40-man roster spot.

40-man roster spots currently available

Currently, the Pirate 40-man roster sits at 38 players. It was at 36 until they signed catcher Ali Sánchez and claimed pitcher Roddery Muñoz off waiver on Friday. You cna read more about those acquisitions here.

With those additions, the Pirates now have three catchers on the 40-man roster as Sánchez joins Endy Rodriguez and Jason Delay on the 40-man roster. There is also Henry Davis who is listed as an outfielder, but can always be used as a catcher as well.

The addition of Muñoz gives the Pirates 21 pitchers on their 40-man roster. This includes another offseason addition to the 40-man roster, right-handed pitching prospect Braxton Ashcraft who was added last month to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

Another player who has been added to the 40-man roster this offseason is infield prospect Tsung-Che Cheng. Like Ashcraft, Cheng was added last month to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. Adding Cheng gives the Pirates eight infielders on their 40-man roster.

As for the outfielders, Connor Joe, Joshua Palacios, Bryan Reynolds, Canaan Smith-Njigba, and Jack Suwinski join Davis. This gives the Pirates six outfielders on their 40-man roster as MLB's Winter Meetings begin.

Players who could come off the roster

Last week, I took a look at three players who could lose their spot on the 40-man roster this offseason. Those three players were infield Alika Williams, pitcher Max Kranick, and the aforementioned Smith-Njigba.

It would not be a surprise to see the Pirates attempt to trade one of Liover Peguero, Nick Gonzales, or Ji Hwan Bae during the Winter Meetings, or at some point this offseason, due to their surplus of middle infielders on the roster. Although, how much trade value, if any, those three would have is questionable.

Make sure to stay tuned and keep checking in here at Rum Bunter throughout MLB's Winter Meetings. We will make sure to have you covered on all Pirate related news, rumors, signings, etc. during the next few days and throughout the entire offseason.

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