40-Man Roster

[magnumo]

There may be some interesting questions coming up about the Pirates' 40-man roster..... which is currently full.

- The acquisition of Burnett requires 1 player to be cut promptly.

- In my view, Nick Evans, Juan Cruz, and Doug Slaten each have a pretty good chance of making the team. However, since they are non-roster guys, that would require 3 more cuts..... for a total of 4.

- The good news is that the Pirates may have reached the point where cuts from the 40-man roster are more difficult than they used to be.

- The bad news (in my opinion) is that although the utter "deadwood" may be gone (from the 40-man roster), too many mediocre players remain.

The Pirates appear to have a pretty compelling need to make more trades, i.e., dealing guys off the 40-man roster for younger players in order to relieve the situation. However, assuming no such trades.....

Who should be cut from the 40-man roster to make room for Burnett, Evans, Cruz, and Slaten (or anyone else not currently on the roster)?

 

[thecrow124]

Nunez. He was a rule 5 fodder anyway.
Cruz only makes the roster if Meek is still injured, which means he either goes to the DL or could be outrighted, either way call it even.
Evans isn't likely to break camp with the big club so no reason for him to be added, and the same goes for Slaten.

There is other garbage that can go from the 40-man, but without looking off the top of my head, Morris would be my next option.

 

[steelparrot]

Harrison has to be on the short list too.

 

[magnumo]

How about Welker?

 

[sychmd]

rule 5 guy is out. just blocks any flexibility, unless he really has something unique and special for us.
harrison seems to have hit his ceiling and ant play short in a pinch of those no power infielder types we stockpile.
welker could be the pitcher to go.
watson is a lefty and his fate will ride on how the invitees for the pen play out.
i am getting impatient with lincoln unless he can be a long relief or specialty bullpen guy. just dont see him as one of our starters.
wouldnt mind seeing gorkys and lincoln and one of the locke/morris/alderson/wilson packaged for a really good powerhitting mlb 1b, ss, c, or if for a corner outfielder, we can throw in presley/tabata if we are replacing one.

agree with the basic premise, we have too many on the 40 man that will probably not be in our future and need to be strategically packaged for a 1B, corner OF, or C.

 

[thecrow124]

How about Welker?

In general I am not a fan of carrying relievers on the 40 man roster. If they plan on using him in a starting roll then it is ok, but if they plan on using him as a reliever then he can go.

 

[element1286]

How about Welker?

They like him, I remember reading his FB went to another level last year, and he is missing bats and getting groundballs. And since they just put him on the 40-man to protect him from the Rule-V draft I don't see them taking him off.

I could see Tony Watson coming off, but I don't know the status of his health, so he could be moved to the 60 day DL to open a spot.

I could see Jared Hughes coming off the 40-man.

Also, I think it is a guarantee Gustavo Nunez, the Rule V pick, is gonna be returned, and open a spot.

 

[powwow35]

I can see Chris Leroux being removed for AJ Burnett.

I see Gustavo Nunez sticking around unless Yamico Navarro clearly beats him out for the backup infield spot. Navarro, who was aquired from KC for Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris, has 2 options remaining.

 

[element1286]

I can see Chris Leroux being removed for AJ Burnett.

I see Gustavo Nunez sticking around unless Yamico Navarro clearly beats him out for the backup infield spot. Navarro, who was aquired from KC for Brooks Pounders and Diego Goris, has 2 options remaining.

It would be a shame if Nunez took a roster spot, considering he is by far the worst player on the 40-man roster right now.

 

[magnumo]

Thanks much for sharing your thoughts, guys. Where I am right now on the 40-man roster..... if there are no trades, pitchers or infielders are the most likely to be cut.

Pitchers:

- We still have the one cut which Burnett's acquisition will force. We'll know who that is in the next day or two.

- We know that Hurdle prefers (at least) two lefties in the BP.

- I see the top 3 candidates as Watson, Slaten, and Moskos..... with Reyes and Justin Wilson as longshots. (I gotta believe Locke and Owens will be starting at Indy.) I like Watson's potential over that of Moskos, and it seems that Hurdle has little confidence in Moskos, as well. Both have options. Slaten has some decent performance on his resume, and that causes me to believe he has a good shot at being a veteran lefty in the pen (which will require one cut from the 40-man roster). Most likely candidates are Hughes and Welker, and I would go with Welker.

- The righty side of the entire pitching staff is more up in the air. In the BP, Hanrahan, Grilli, Meek (if healthy) and Resop are the top righties, followed (in no particular order) by Hughes, Leroux, D. McCutchen, and Cruz. Maybe Igarashi is the real longshot there. Personally, I'd like to see them keep stretching out Leroux as a starter at Indy. If Morton is healthy to start the season, we need to add Correia or Karstens to the pen. Cruz may have a shot, but it appears to be lower probability than I first thought..... so, I'll let that one go for the time being.

Infielders:

- I still haven't figured out why they claimed Nunez in the Rule 5. At any rate, it seems as though either Nunez or Navarro are likely to be cut..... maybe both. And we still need to consider Harrison, D'Arnaud, and Mercer. Of those five, I think two could be dropped. They seem to like D'Arnaud a lot (not sure why). I'll go with Nunez as the top candidate.

- Unless Alvarez convinces everyone in Spring Training that he's gonna be a contributor this year, I see both McGehee and Evans making the team, at least as platoon partners for Alvarez and Jones. Keeping Evans will demand a third cut from the 40-man.

- Matt Hague probably is on the bubble as well. I'd love to see him get a shot, but it's apparent that the Pirates don't think much of his chances..... and he'll turn 27 during the season. Hague COULD convince the staff to cut Evans instead, but that seems unlikely.

My tentative conclusion is that the first three to be cut could be Welker, Nunez, and Hague (not necessarily my preferences). In general, they'll probably save the other pitchers for depth and trade chips. At any rate, thanks for joining in the speculation..... you've identified some other potential cuts, in the event the team needs more than 3 slots.

 

[steelparrot]

Looks like we are going to keep Nunez, he was placed on the 60-day dl with an 'ankle injury'. Comes off the DL June 1st, plus 20 days max rehab for position player... So the Pirates can keep him up a few weeks and evaluate before the back spasms.

I bet the Tigers really loved the 60day DL trick. Everyone knows its a bogus injury, but the only one that can complain is the player and he will be making 400k this year so hes not going to say anything

 

[thecrow124]

What a waste, now we get to carry dead weight for the entire season and pay him $400K I have no idea why teams do this, all it does is loses the player a year of playingtime. By the time he gets to play this year he will be useless, and will probably never be a legitimate major leaguer anyway.

 

[magnumo]

This Nunez situation DOES seem like a curious sequence of events. The implication (if we assume everything is on the up-and-up) is that Nunez injured his ankle some time after the Rule 5 draft. I hope that the local media digs into this one and shares more details.

No one is more of a Pirate fan than I..... but for the player's sake, if the injury is bogus as suggested by steelparrot, I hope that comes out and the Pirates are punished appropriately.

I understand and approve the intent of the Rule 5 draft, but perhaps something must be done to eliminate abuses in practice. Seems to me it would be easy to write a rule(s) to prevent such abuses from happening. I have several ideas.

 

[element1286]

Looks like we are going to keep Nunez, he was placed on the 60-day dl with an 'ankle injury'. Comes off the DL June 1st, plus 20 days max rehab for position player... So the Pirates can keep him up a few weeks and evaluate before the back spasms.

I bet the Tigers really loved the 60day DL trick. Everyone knows its a bogus injury, but the only one that can complain is the player and he will be making 400k this year so hes not going to say anything

Sounds good, don't have to worry about him taking a roster spot for a while. Don't see why there is so much meandering for such a marginal player.

 

[Darkstone42]

Sounds good, don't have to worry about him taking a roster spot for a while. Don't see why there is so much meandering for such a marginal player.

Desperation?

 

[Etrius24]

Element

Maybe by the time Nunez is officially cleared to play the Pirates will know more about how this season is going... Maybe someone else will be hurt by then or traded... Creating space for Nunez

This could all sort itself out without anyone being cut or kept off the roster.

 

[ramburgh]

Burnett's Injury takes a couple question marks out of the opening day roster. My prediction:

SP-Bedard, Correia, Kartsens, McDonald, Morton
RP-Hanrahan, Meek, Grilli, Resop, Leroux, Cruz, McCutchen
Line-Up-Presley, Tabata, McCutchen, Walker, Alvarez, Jones, Barmes, Barajas
BN-McKenry, McGehee, McLouth, Navarro, Harrison

 

[thedddd]

There are a few that can still go which really would not effect the team depth:

IF's
Nunez - now on the 60 day DL but still don't care if he is gone.
Navarro
Harrison

Pitchers:
McCutchen
Leroux - ONLY if Hughes out plays him to make the ML roster.
Resop - the same scenario as Leroux.
If either don't make the ML roster no need to keep them on the 40 man if you need to add a Catcher (which the need another) or a non-roster invitee who outplayed them.

 

[magnumo]

It's just been announced that Igarashi, Evans, Fox, and Fryer have been cut..... and that Juan Cruz likely has made the team:

- Igarashi just couldn't get his act together. Cruz beat him out.

- Evans couldn't hit. He blew his chance big time.

- Fox got outplayed by Hague. I'm REALLY hoping that Hague makes the cut.

- Apparently, there was some thinking that Fryer might beat out McKenry for the backup catcher's job, but McKenry's experience and the relationships he built with the pitching staff in 2011 won out.

Morton starting the season on the DL opens up one more slot on the 25-man roster, at least for the first week or 10 days (until Morton comes back OFF the DL). Things are gradually clearing up.