The real reason the Pirates just claimed Angels' Niko Goodrum

Yesterday, the Pirates decided to claim Niko Goodrum off waivers from the Angels. Let’s see why the Pirates got him.
Kansas City Royals v Los Angeles Angels
Kansas City Royals v Los Angeles Angels / Ronald Martinez/GettyImages
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Shortly after the Pirates signed Jake Woodford to a minor league contract, they announced they had claimed Niko Goodrum from the Los Angeles Angels. To make room for Goodrum on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated Ben Heller for assignment.

The Pirates decided to send Goodrum to Indianapolis directly after acquiring him. This season in Triple-A, Goodrum has a batting average of .270 with three home runs and 16 runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .831, which includes an on-base percentage of .387 and a slugging percentage of .444.

His Triple-A numbers are solid, but his major league numbers are objectively not. In just 13 games, Goodrum has a .103 batting average with an OPS of .291, which includes an on-base percentage of .188 and a slugging percentage of .103. His wRC+ sits at -7 and his strikeout percentage is at 30%.

Those numbers are unserviceable, but the Pirates believe things can get better. Goodrum spent 2023 in the KBO and performed fantastically. In 50 games, Goodrum had a .295 batting average with 14 doubles and 28 runs batted in. He also had an OPS of .760, which includes an on-base percentage of .373 and a slugging percentage of .387. His wRC+ was solid at 114 and he had a strikeout percentage of 22.9%.

Goodrum is a utility guy. He plays everywhere on the field, which provides a lot of value.

The real reason the Pirates claimed Niko Goodrum is because Jake Lamb has an opt-out clause on Saturday.

It is very unlikely that Ben Cherington planned to add Jake Lamb to the 40-man roster. Lamb is having a solid season in Triple-A, but doesn't represent a clear improvement on what Pittsburgh already has in place, which is ultimately why he has not been promoted.

This season, Lamb has a batting average of .317 with four home runs and 31 runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .857, which in includes an on-base percentage of .402 and a slugging percentage of .456. His wRC+ is solid at 122 and his strikeout rate is at 18.2%.

These numbers are pretty good for Triple-A, but his whiff rates and average exit velocity are worse than Rowdy Tellez's work at the MLB level. This indicates that some of his hits were luck, and that he does not make consistent contact on the ball.

With the opt out clause of Jake Lamb's contract approaching this weekend, Ben Cherington wasted no time in finding a replacement with the waiver claim of Niko Goodrum. Let’s see if Goodrum can find his swing with the hitting coach in Indianapolis, Eric Munson.

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