Dejan Kovacevic reports on Twitter that he hears the Pittsburgh Pirates have told Lyle Overbay that he will be designated for assignment. The move wouldn’t be a huge surprise, as the Pirates just acquired Derrek Lee, and need to open roster spots today for Lee and Ryan Ludwick. By designating Overbay for assignment, the Pirates can hope that another team claims him, and assumes the remainder of his $5 M salary, which at this point would be around $1.6 M. The move would also open a spot on the 40-man roster for the eventual activation of Ross Ohlendorf or Ryan Doumit. Both players are on the 60-day disabled list, and both are expected to return no later than next week.
UPDATE 2:44 PM: The move has been made official by the Pirates. There will also be a corresponding roster move for Ludwick when he reports to the ball park. The 40-man roster has been updated with this move.
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.
I liked overbay
I would rather have seen Steve Pierce go away. He has not shown me anything good. Or did I miss something?
Send Ciriaco back down to make room for Ludwick, or do we just cut Xavier Paul at this point?
Paul has a lot of interesting skills with gap power, nice arm, and speed but he’s shaky in the field and I don’t know if he will ever hit enough…I guess you keep him as long as you can but he will probably have to go later this summer when Tabata comes back. Cutch, Tabata, Ludwick, Diaz, Presley….I guess Paul would be the odd man out. If Tabata doesn’t get back until Sept 1 you could keep Paul but I would hope Jose is back before then.
Cosart’s draft position is quite deceiving. He was projected as an early round talent, but the Texas native’s firm commitment to attend the University of Missouri had Major League teams avoiding him throughout the selection process. The Phillies took a gamble later in the draft, then followed Cosart, who played outfield and pitched as an amateur, around as he played rec league baseball during the Summer months. At the signing deadline, the Phillies made a hefty $550,000 offer, that both sides view as an investment, and coaxed Cosart to sign a contract.
Moving on…the fo should have just burned that 5 mil in February. Sometimes the fans do know better than the front office. This was my only major complaint with the offseason additions before the season started. Although I didn’t care for getting Correia for 2 years…but we probably already got nearly 8 mil of value out of him compared to other pitchers on the market. He was horse of the staff the first 2 months of the season and will at least be useful as a 5th starter or tradebait sometime in the next calendar year.
Tim, can you please explain to me how the Phillies got Hunter Pence for Jonathon Singleton, Jarred Cosart, and two other prospects? I just don’t understand Singleton looks like an Aaron Baker type player but with his stats but somehow is a highly touted prospect, and Cosart same thing he looks like a Kyle McPherson type player if not worse…yet he is a top prospect.