The Rangers have claimed utilityman Phil Gosselin from the Pirates and optioned him to Triple-A Round Rock. They’ve also outrighted infielder Tyler Smith to Round Rock.
The Pirates acquired Gosselin in a minor trade this spring after the Diamondbacks designated him for assignment. Gosselin has split his time between Pittsburgh and Triple-A Indianapolis this season, batting just .150/.190/.175 in limited duty in the big leagues and .266/.304/.336 at Triple-A. He can be optioned, but he doesn’t really play shortstop, giving him somewhat limited utility as a bench piece, and the Pirates likely thought he was expendable with the addition of Sean Rodriguez last week. The 28-year-old Gosselin has shown a bit of offensive ability in parts of five seasons in the big leagues, batting .272/.320/.368.
The Rangers claimed the 26-year-old Smith from the Mariners late last month. He’s hit .237/.326/.342 at the Triple-A level this season and has mostly played shortstop. He collected three hits in brief big-league duty with Seattle earlier this year.
Was this an instance of trade waivers or outright waivers?
‘Who cares’ waivers? 🙂
The Goose is gone, never to return.
If by “trade waivers” you mean revocable waivers – then no. He was designated for assignment for the purpose of clearing a 40 man spot. He was put on irrevocable waivers and isn’t really a loss.
Some trades seem like a decent idea worth a shot at the time, but fail spectacularly. This was one of those times. He was supposed to be a Sean Rodriguez replacement, and ended up getting replaced by Sean Rodriguez.