According to the transactions page on the Pittsburgh Pirates team site, the Pirates have lost catcher Ali Sanchez on waivers to the Arizona Diamondbacks. There was no formal announcement of Sanchez being designated for assignment. He was picked up this off-season as a waiver claim from the Detroit Tigers on October 18th.
Sanchez turns 26 years old in January. He has played just seven big league games over two seasons, though he spent the entire 2022 season in the minors. He was the only catcher on the 40-man roster with big league experience. Endy Rodriguez is the only catcher on the 40-man roster now, and he has less than a half season above A-Ball, so it’s likely that the Pirates add two catchers this off-season, though they could have multiple players on minor league deals battle it out for a backup spot during Spring Training, which is what happened in 2021.
The 40-man roster is now at 39 spots, opening up a possible spot for a Rule 5 pick next week.
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.
Benny must have been reading my posts here about all of the backend filler we could easily jettison. 🤪🤪🤪🤪
I assume that means we will actually sign a major leaguer catcher who lives and breaths, I’m not holding out for like Omar Navaerez or Christian Vazquez, but getting someone like Austin Hedges at catcher wouldn’t be the worst thing…
JVM will be our new starting catcher in 2023. You heard it first here!!
Upon more thinking, maybe we actually select a rule 5 catcher like Drew Millas or Yankees Antonio Gomez in a break from convention.
Honestly if these guys have good defense, like Gomez with his 70 ish arm, its not like we are used to anything from catcher.
Wonder why they waited to jettison flotsam (or flottison jetsam) until AFTER setting the 40 man for the Rule V? If they do that two weeks ago, couldn’t they have protected someone they might actually want to keep, like Nunez, for instance? Certainly there’s still enough deadwood on the roster to thin out when/if they sign someone.
Not this again 🤦🏻♂️
Your thoughts to my ears.
We’re losing players right and left–the Giants just claimed Yajure.
The cosmos are collapsing all around us!
Seriously, by BC standards this is all incredibly bold.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Making room for major signings next week! </s>
I think Yajure will do well with the Giants pitching lab. Watch him come out throwing 40% sliders or something and dominate.
No offense, but……This statement or something similar is written almost everytime we trade or DFA some young player.