Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young have both elected free agency, after both players were designated for assignment last Friday. Both players had more than three years of service time, giving them the right to decline their outright assignment to the minors.
LaRoche arrived in Pittsburgh as the center piece in the Jason Bay trade. In his time with the Pirates he hit for a .226/.296/.341 line in 935 at-bats. In 2009 he had a .258/.330/.401 line and strong defense, leading to a 2.4 WAR. However, both his hitting and defense tanked in 2010, and he was left without a position with Pedro Alvarez and Neil Walker arriving in the majors in 2010, taking up third and second base.
Young was acquired in early 2009 after being designated for assignment by the Dodgers. He combined for a .255/.312/.393 line in 545 at-bats. Young was best used as a pinch hitter and an occasional starter off the bench, although he had no true position on the field. The Pirates experimented with him at second base in 2009 after Freddy Sanchez was traded, but Young’s defense was horrible, and his offensive numbers struggled in an every day role, leading the Pirates to acquire Akinori Iwamura during the off-season.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
