The Pittsburgh Pirates have released two minor leaguers, Pirates Prospects has learned. Outfielder Quincy Latimore and catcher Erick Fernandez have both been let go by the organization. Both players were signed as minor league free agents over the Winter.
Quincy Latimore was originally drafted by the Pirates in the fourth round of the 2007 draft. He spent six seasons in the organization, before being trade to the Cleveland Indians last year for Jeanmar Gomez. Latimore split the 2013 season between the Indians organization and the Washington WildThings of the independent Frontier League. The Pirates resigned Latimore this February.
Erick Fernandez was signed as catching depth in January. He is 25 years old and has never played above A-ball. Fernandez spent most of last year in the Washington Nationals organization.
Earlier in the day, the Altoona Curve set their Opening Day roster.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
That is a shame with Latimore – he seemed to have potential when the Bucs drafted him…
Drat. I had been looking forward to the return of the Q-ball.