The Pittsburgh Pirates have designated infielder Jake Elmore for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for infielder Jung Ho Kang.
The Pirates claimed Elmore back on November 7th after the Cincinnati Reds put him on waivers. He has played briefly in the Majors each of the last three seasons with three different teams. Elmore was 2-for-11 in five games for the Reds last year.
The Pirates made the Jung Ho Kang signing official on Friday, agreeing to a four-year deal. Due to the timing of the signing, the Pirates didn’t have to add him to the 40-man roster until today.
The Pirates now have ten days to either trade Elmore, or if he clears waivers, they can send him outright to the minors, or release him.
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.
Being the 41st guy on the roster is a tough life to live…a month before spring training opens and no idea where you are going can’t be a good feeling…
I fear that we fans don’t think about the human side of the game and its players often enough. These are living, breathing kids and men we casually dismiss as worthless when they make a mistake.