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One of the Pittsburgh Pirates' National League Central rivals made a shockingly drastic move over the weekend, as the Cincinnati Reds designated outfielder Jake Fraley for assignment amid a flurry of roster moves.
Fraley had been a roughly league average bat through parts of four seasons for Cincinnati, batting .260/.336/.421 in 362 games over that span, but his .187/.263/.260 line against left-handed pitching remained cause for concern. Fraley had also been mired in a 1-for-17 slump since the start of August and was hitting just .226/.305/.377 dating back to June 20, which ultimately proved to be his undoing.
It's a tough break for Fraley, but he will almost certainly land with a new team in no time. Somehow, though, Fraley's DFA feels even worse for Pirates fans as they reflect on the shortcomings of their own team's roster (and that's no short list).
Reds’ surprising Jake Fraley DFA sheds new light on just how bad this Pirates roster is
At the time of his DFA, Fraley had a Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) of 98, which is just slightly below the league average. Only one member of the Pirates' roster who has taken a single at-bat in 2025 has a higher wRC+ this season: second baseman Nick Gonzales (99).
According to MLB.com, wRC+ takes the statistic Runs Created and adjusts that number to account for important external factors, such as ballpark or era. It's adjusted, meaning that a wRC+ of 100 is league average and 150 would be 50 percent above league average. By quantifying and normalizing run creation, wRC+ allows for more accurate comparisons of players who play in different ballparks (and even different eras).
So, not only is the Pirates' best hitter in terms of wRC+ still worse than the league average, but practically their entire roster has a wRC+ that is worse than a guy that their division rival just DFA'd. It's no wonder that the Pirates currently rank dead last in the league with 439 total runs scored this season – and nothing's going to change unless the front office starts complementing the club's stellar pitching with offense that resembles anything close to average.
Heck, maybe the Pirates should just claim Fraley. It would easily be the most impactful roster move this team has made this season in order to improve the offense.
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