According to Marc Tompkins of the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Bay Rays have claimed outfielder Jake Goebbert from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Goebbert was designated for assignment over the weekend when the Pirates needed to clear three spots on the 40-man roster to add Matt Joyce, Cory Luebke and Cole Figueroa.
The Pirates have a lot of prospects at Indianapolis right now and it will take a little creativity with their positions to get them all sufficient playing time, since many of them are infielders. In that sense, the loss of Goebbert makes it easier to accomplish that by giving them time in the outfield. He was however, the only outfielder they have with Major League playing time besides Antoan Richardson, who has played just 22 Major League games total spread out over 2011 and 2014.
So the loss hurts their outfield depth short-term, but Goebbert wasn’t anything more than an extra outfielder even if the Pirates needed him, and others in AAA can fill that same role. If the Pirates need another outfielder after Matt Joyce to make regular starts, they will have much bigger issues than the loss of Goebbert.
