The Pirates announced that they claimed infielder Kevin Padlo off waivers from the Mariners and optioned him to Triple-A. In a corresponding move, outfielder Jake Marisnick has been released. The club also announced that catcher Taylor Davis has cleared waivers and been outrighted.
Padlo, 26, made his MLB debut last year with the Rays but went to the Mariners on a waiver claim. In April of this year, the Mariners designated him for assignment in April and traded him to the Giants. The Giants DFA’d him in June and the Mariners claimed him again, before he was sent into DFA limbo yet again a few days ago, now landing with the Pirates.
Amid all of that, Padlo has played 20 games at the MLB level between last year and this year, hitting a paltry .143/.211/.200. He has better numbers in the minors this season, hitting .245/.327/.455 for a wRC+ of 92. His best attribute is arguably his plate discipline, as he frequently ran up double-digit walk rates in his rise up the minor leagues. He’s only at 9.3% on the farm this year, but the Pirates will give him a shot based on that track record.
As for Marisnick, 31, the defensive specialist was signed by the Pirates in April but required thumb surgery in May, which ended up costing him about two months. He has since returned and increased his tally of games on the season to 31. His batting line for the campaign is .234/.272/.390, wRC+ of 80, roughly in line with his career numbers. The defensive metrics are still giving positive reviews for his work on the grass, meaning this move isn’t likely a reflection of his performance. Rather, the rebuilding club probably just wants to devote its playing time and roster spots for controllable players who they will audition for future roles on the team. It wouldn’t be surprising if Marisnick garnered interest from a contender who wanted his speed and defense on the bench. At last year’s trade deadline, for instance, he was traded from the Cubs to the Padres for such a role.
Ahh… Waivers. My favorite time of the year where you can take a chance on a player without paying his full salary. Mhm… Waivers
It’s Nutting’s favorite time, too
What kind of dirt does Vanmeter have on the Pirates organization?
Ask Derek Shelton…. Shelton seems to be taking over for hurdle and Rodriguez
Van Meter has not been playing much over the last week.
Imagine being Van Meter knowing you’re batting 182 and always in the lineup when there are better players than you on the bench and at AAA. Or being one of the younger players sitting knowing you can do better. It’s crazy, someone needs to call them out.
G- I am convinced that Van Meter has photos of someone.
Or,Shelton told him that if he finished that game catching he would be on the roster the rest of the year.
Or,he is the emergency first baseman,catcher,and pitcher rolled into one,all for one salary.
I presume that they have been using Madris at first base to be able to sever the ties with Van Meter.Waiving Yoshi May have cemented him to the roster for the rest of the year.
Let’s hope not.
Waive him and bring up Bae as they will have to roster him over the winter anyway.
Bae I believe is another Oneil Cruz situation. Not a blockbuster, but a lackluster type of player. Cruz I am still on the fence that he is a regular day fielder and hitter. He’s nothing like Tatis Jr or even Guerrero Jr as elite young prospect or player. When they come out of the gate, you can tell what type of player you have after 2 months. Cruz is below average hitter and at best, average defensive player. With all that said and in mind, Bae I believe is very similar. I haven’t seen a prospect hit “elite” level yet other than Reynolds. Hayes is average. Newman below average. Cal Mitchell below average. Even guys that have been hyped up are underperforming after 2-3 years. I get it, they are young. But I haven’t seen one guy adjust to the league yet. And that’s concerning considering we are in August now. I am very concerned about next year as of right now. The excitement is fading and I’m starting to feel the 30 year winless streak all over again. I bought into the hype last few years, now I am quite concerned about the future.
I have to disagree about Bae. He may not be an elite prospect but he won a batting title in 2019. I’ll take over 25 stolen bases with a high average any day of the week. He’s a better lead off guy than Newman. Most young players need time to adjust. Cruz might just be a power guy buy it’s still too early to tell.
This move may have cemented the fate of JVM.. If Bae were healthy, he would be up and Van Meter would be,gone. Hopefully Bae will be good to go in a week or or so and he will be up and Van Meter will be gone.
I figured him to be gone once madris was at first. He started 1 outta 5 games since then and hasn’t even came in off the bench in the others. The padlo move also looks like insurance in case Hayes or chavis go down with an injury just to get to the finish line. That would make sense if you didn’t have vanmeter. Maybe they are waiting for some specific date because of service time/super 2 stuff for the replacement? It sure seems like his days are numbered
They could be waiting on bae. I wasn’t thinking of him but that would make sense of why vanmeter is basically just a placeholder and hasnt been DFA
Bae is on the IL.If he was healthy, he would be up and JVM gone..
The longer vanmeter is DFA in spirit on the bench and he’s on the injured list, the more I believe that’s the case. They are going to want to jerk his service time around though and that would be harder to do if he comes up this season. I just didn’t expect to see him until next season really. I hope you are right though.
You didn’t really name any real prospects. Newman was never seen as a 20 homer SS. Cal Mitchell is a stop gap. Reynolds himself wasn’t even a big time prospect fans acted like he was a throw in for Cutch. Bae is raking, and was a huge signing before the Braves lost him. Hayes has been doing what he always was supposed to, above average defense and an average bat. And Cruz has all of 150 ABs and you want to write him off? Honestly, you always have some of the worst takes on the Buccos….
Do I? Mitch Keller stinks. Hayes is defensive only with no upside on offense, similar to Charlie Hayes. Cruz had 2 shots last year and this year, kid just isn’t going to be “the hype”. Travis Swaggerty hasn’t seen the majors this year. Mason Martin is being held down and not at the majors/ two more names with plenty of hype. Contreras has been no better than Keller and Pittsburgh hyped him up. Reynolds has been the only guy worth speaking about. No other players comes to his level. Bae will be another Cruz, plenty of hype but nothing to show for but a few ABs at the MLB level. I feel like Cruz is modern day Billy Beane (during his playing years)/Clint Hurdle. Both were hyped and became a bust. Cruz fits that description and I believe Bae will be just the same. There is a reason why the Pirates haven’t given him major ABs. Think about it and watch him at the plate. Deer in headlights if you watch closely. There is no bonafide prospect that has made the majors and knew they were going to be elite and great. McCutchen was the last prospect I felt good about. Nothing against Pedro Aleverez or Neil Walker during that time, but watching McCutchen going through the system and playing in the Futures game, I knew he was going to be something special. Can you say that right now with any of the prospects? I can’t. Any real Pirates fan with a brain are sitting back nervously watching these guys blow up on National TV and not in a positive way.
1981- Mitch Keller has been one of the best pitchers in the NL over the last six weeks or so.He May have finally turned the corner.Contreras has had a couple of bad outings but otherwise has been fine.They May very well be manipulating his service time at this point.
I do not disagree with you on the hitters.There are no superstars there.But many of these players will turn out to be good major league players.They won’t be the superstars that you need to win a WS,But they should be good enough to put a good team on the field.
In 2017, Marisnick’s “best year” he had a solid OPS. Coincidentally the year of the cheating scandal. His OPS at home was a whopping .1008. His away splits….647 OPS. Since then he has not had a solid year batting wise.
He somehow made a ten-year MLB career while not being able to hit at all,
i mean there is a hall of famer with just a slightly better career ops and i believe lower through his first 10 years. He was also all star got mvp votes and was number 2 for rookie of the year. Even went in on his first ballot.
Its not so hard to believe, not common but also not crazy.
Marisnick hits as well, or better, than many a “regular” mlb outfielder. Furthermore, as anyone who has followed his career knows, he literally wins more games with his glove & his arm than most 265 hitters do with their bat. So, it’s no mystery to most true fans of baseball how & why Marisnick has made a nice career in mlb.
He’s fine especially as a backup. Pirates have no use for him now. Released him in an attempt to give him a chance to latch on somewhere before august ends.
Marisnick was absolutely dynamite defensively, but the Bucs have a whole bunch of young outfielders who need playing time, and they also now have Greg Allen, who is basically Marisnick with slightly more pop in his bat. Marisnick was only signed when Allen got hurt right at the end of spring training. The Bucs are doing Jake a favor.
Jake will catch on somewhere because his defense and speed still play. At the very least, he has achieved his 10th year, and pension, a ring, and the chance to play the great game of baseball.
No ring, old age creeping in again!!
Honestly could this pirates team even place 1st in triple A east division?
If it was a four team division with the Cubs, Reds and Nats then yes, they could finish first
Why do you ask and why do you care?
Marisnick’s nickname is Big Fudge. I do NOT want to know the story there.
I would love to see the stros sign Jake to play CF. He would be an upgrade over our current situation no doubt. He was always a fan favorite and plays the right way.
But just what is playing “the right way” to the Astros? Asking for a friend.
One thing about Jake, he always plays hard and is always a clubhouse favorite. As far as banging on trashcans, if that’s what you are saying, let it go man, let it go.
Agree 100%. Jake is a fabulous player to have on the roster. It’s so sad & disappointing when a team let’s him go. That would be really great to have him back with the Astros
Late innings defense, baserunning, and RH. With so many of the young OFs being LH, I thought there was a role for next year. He seemed more a better fit than Allen, JVM, or, hate to say it, even Gamel.
As Uncle said above,I think that that they are doing Jake a favor as he hit when he came off the IL the last time.
He could still help the Pirates this year but they want to look at the young players.It was either he or Gamel gone.
The young outfielders have not hit particularly well but they need these spots for home grown players.Maybe they just want to see how Padlo does in AAA for the remainder of this year to make a decision on him.
Marisnick might have value for someone. I heard his injury was worse than expected though. He’s pretty much useless if not signed by august 31 though
Allen has control for a few years. I actually expect that exact role to be Greg allens (switch hitter). He will probably start about 40 games and be a late inning replacement.
Buc-Not sure whether Allen will make the cut unless he starts hitting a lot better.Suwinski is starting to hit in AAA like he did in AA,so he will earn a call up soon.That leaves them with Madris and Mitchell platooning in the other spot.They have Marcano to cover.
It seems to me that they will put Bae,Rodriguez,and Burrows on the 40 man before the Rule 5 draft.Also,Bolton May need to be moved to it too.They have 3 young pitchers to move from the 60 day list plus Smith-Njiba.If they sign Roberto Pérez again,that is 9 spots that will need to be opened up.At this point it seems to me that there are 7 fairly clear candidates to be removed,but,believe it or not,the Pirates are getting to the point where they will have to start cutting meat from the bone unless some of these young players really play themselves out of a job quickly.
If they are worried about super 2 for suwinski, then you ain’t going to see him this year probably anymore. For his service time to be in line with cruz, he would have to be down for like another month to 5 weeks. I don’t know about Allen, but he’s still here and he does do the late inning things well. Gamel will be gone for sure. Yes, they have some rule 5 decisions but it’s not nearly the crunch like last year. I’m not a fan of resigning the oft injured Perez. This whole season has been a mess at that position and it’s mostly due to him suffering a season ending injury in the first month.
You may be right on Pérez,but I think that we agree that they need a stopgap catcher who is at least decent,and that is assuming that Delay can play well as the backup.BC did not have three catchers lined up which is what you need for the toughest of positions.
They need to upgrade that position and I would not be adverse to getting Stallings back as a half time catcher.
I did not think about the Suwinski super two but I do not doubt that you and BC are thinking about it.
It is a shame about Gamel as I was hoping that they could get a. Decent A player for him.They do need to have a few veterans for leadership roles if nothing else.They do need the spot though.
I would also not be averse to getting Cutch back for a swan song as he would be an excellent leader for that clubhouse even if he was not a full time player but as a DH.
For whatever reason,it seems to me that they have some good young arms and I hope that they do treat them with respect and allow them to prove that they can make it in the ML’s.
Yes they will sign someone in the off-season. They can’t possibly go into next year what the current catching situation. BC seems to have a hard on for the catchers not batting on the same side. I don’t think it should matter that much, especially if you are “rebuilding” anyways. They will sign a stopgap type and then one of these guys will be the backup. If stallings gets non-tendered by Miami, which wouldn’t be a surprise at all, I could bring him back for another year. He also might be finished.
I thought vanmeter would get DFA and then swaggerty would take his place. Someone else said they are waiting for Bae, which would make sense why it hasn’t happened yet though. Swaggerty is putting up good not great numbers at AAA. It could be jack suwinski but that would be a departure from how they have handled the other guys which is a rotation while securing control and avoiding super 2. Suwinski wasn’t a top prospect either, so they may want to check him out to see exactly what they have, but I’m leaning to one of the others (bae or swaggerty).
Should have claimed David MacKinnon last week instead.
Funny you say this, because mr excitement said on his radio show he submitted a claim for someone they didn’t get. I bet that’s who it was. He went to Oakland who had a worse record
Hope they take a chance on Reyes from Cleveland.
Vogelbach’s heir apparent. From Big Dan to Big Fran.
Jake Marisnick was the only reason I followed the Pirates at all this season.
Now that he’s gone, the Pirates are one of the most uninteresting teams in mlb …& I certainly will no longer be tuning in to their broadcasts.
Astros need to resign CF Jake Marisnick. Great defender covers a lot of ground, doubles hitter and occasional power. Astros fans loved him. Shouldn’t cost a ton of money to bring him back. The other Jake Meyers ain’t cutting the mustard.