Aug. 8: The Pirates released Tsutsugo over the weekend, per the team’s transactions log at MLB.com.
Aug. 3: The Pirates have designated first baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo for assignment and recalled infielder Tucupita Marcano to take his spot on the roster, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Tsutsugo, 30, returned to the Bucs on a one-year deal after a big finish down the stretch with them in 2021. The former NPB slugger wasn’t able to replicate the production he gave Pittsburgh last August and September, however, limping to a .171/.249/.229 slash with just two homers and four doubles in 193 plate appearances this season. As the Pirates increasingly turn the roster over to younger talents who they hope will comprise their next competitive core, however, Tsutsugo increasingly looked as though his time with the team was dwindling.
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the only options for the Bucs now are to place Tsutsugo on outright waivers or release waivers. Given that he’s still owed about $1.4MM of this season’s $4MM salary, he’ll assuredly go unclaimed on waivers either way.
The 22-year-old Marcano, acquired from the Padres alongside Jack Suwinski in last year’s Adam Frazier trade, will get another opportunity to establish himself at the game’s top level. He’s hit just .229/.280/.357 with the Pirates this year, but that’s been in just 78 plate appearances. Marcano is sitting on a .319/.417/.475 slash that he’s put together between Double-A and Triple-A while appearing at four defensive positions (second base, shortstop, third base, left field).
Yoshi has played 182 games, 640 PA in MLB to a -2.0 WAR and .630 OPS and got paid $11M for it, haha that rules for him.
now claim MacKinnon
If you look at MacKinnon splits, he has hit both lefties and eighties well, can field, hits for average and power, and is very controllable.
Well, I’m sad it couldn’t work out, but he’s approaching -2 WAR this season. This is an addition by subtraction move and an upgrade at the same time with them promoting Marcano.
I’d really like to see them stick Marcano at a position and leave him in the lineup for a few games. They don’t need more super utility players; they do need to ind a few guys who can get on-base regularly. And although I’ve only seen a little of Marcano, his swing makes me want to see more of him.
Wasn’t this guy supposed to be MVP caliber or am I thinking of Yusei Kikuchi?
@Yanks2- No this guy was supposed to be the next Ichiro. Maybe the Yankees should sign him to a minor league contract, and make an all-star out of him?
He was never supposed to be the next Ichiro. Where’d you get that from? He was expected to be a low average power hitter like he was in Japan. They were hoping for a Matsui at most if you have to stick with a Japanese comparison. That clearly didn’t happen. Some guys from other leagues and AAA don’t adjust as well to MLB pitching as others. I imagine it’s especially hard to make the adjustments in your 30s.
Well, he was halfway there with the low average.
Had one really big power year in NPL and got compared to Matsui.
Like Joey Gallo?
Supposed to be the next Ichiro? Wtf u talking about?
If ichiro was fat couldn’t field or hit he would be compared to him otherwise dumb comment
Pirates fans are celebrating like Phillies fans were yesterday
Why make a post of a transaction saying more to come? Why bother until there’s details ?
.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.
Why read this site then. Go pound sand.
The hook is wet and waiting for the bait.
You know he turned down a two-year contract offer last year? What a smart move.
The Rays gave Tsutsugo 180 at bats of (terrible) experience, so the idea was to go to that
Meanwhile there are probably 10 first basemen in the minor leagues that are potentially league average or better that they’re all afraid to test
Pro tip: Bad experience is worse than no experience. Raid someone’s AAA 1B and get yourself a potential above average 1B
In one offseason I could make the Pirates .500 or better just by going to all the good players at AAA, on waivers, that other GMs are afraid to start regularly
They’re out there, if you just have the courage to do it
Generally disagree with your last comments, Camden. Many of the kids are here now and many more are on the cusp. Admittedly and perhaps alarmingly, young pitchers are a bit behind. Now, you sit and wait to see if they indeed can hit .500 in the foreseeable future and contend in a few years
Right now, whether it’s at the plate or in the field, they are often a very difficult team to watch
As for 1st base, your points are well taken. But they have a plethora of middle infielders and corner outfielders. Not a stretch to think that in an effort to get someone in the lineup, someone starts taking reps at 1st
Yeah they’re a miserable team to watch because the GM is incompetent. The choices he’s making are absurd. It’s obvious many of these hitters won’t hit
Keep Mitchell, Hayes, and Cruz and try to rework everything else. Even those three probably won’t work out
Mitchell is their best hitter imo. I know Cruz has the exit velo and cannon arm off the charts but hitting is more than that. Mitchell has the best chance of sticking
Davis will help immensely but it’s unlikely a core of Davis, Hayes, Cruz, Mitchell will end up a winning core
Outside of Davis, and maybe Mitchell, these are really not good prospects
Can’t take you seriously when you say Mitchell is their best hitter lol.
Mitchell is their best hitter, among Cruz and Hayes, if you know anything about hitting
He’s the one with the highest chance of developing a successful hitting approach
You didn’t qualify and say among those 3.
Camden, I like Mitchell. I like Madris. Haven’t seen enough of Swaggerty or others on the farm yet but Suwinski sure has looked overmatched
Like most fans, I couldn’t wait until Cruz got here. I get it. He’s still young and a work in progress with many tools. His swing is troubling and reminiscent of Polanco in many ways in that he’s a real sucker for spin pitches in the dirt. He’s not knowledgeable about counts and situations and right now, is a mistake hitter. Look, Marte made a nice career of being much the same type of hitter from the right side but he has more weight and a smaller strike zone
I need a year to know, as do we all. Hayes is what he will forever be. That’s not a bad thing of course, but I’m still wondering how some people thought he was a 20 homer guy
Will disagree about Cherington in that his charge was to rebuild the farm system. He’s done that. Now the fun part of seeing if they can do it at the MLB level. Yes, tough team to watch. Have to hold out hope
My problem has been all too often having a number of castoffs in the lineup at the same time. Or VanMeter batting 4th. Dear God. Why?
They are slowly whittling the older guys away. I’ll give them that
Don’t get me wrong, I like Cruz. He’s a smart hitter. You can’t really teach that. I see him thinking about it and trying to figure it out. He’s up there with an idea anyway
I see him improving based on that but will probably always have struggles with pitch recognition and plate discipline
But he’s a shortstop. His arm is a major asset at short and if he just hits .250 with 10-15 HR at short that’s not bad
Basically a defense-first shortstop that does have some ability to hit for power and develop some decent plate discipline
But to say he’s the #1 prospect in the game, which he was at one point, is a huge stretch
There’s enormous potential to be a top player in the game if he somehow figures it out and can make adjustments, but the high probability is that doesn’t happen
It’s not the castoffs but the choice of castoffs. Brandon Drury was a castoff. It was easy to see Drury still could hit. And he’s a gold glove caliber 3B
There’s castoffs and AAA guys like that all over the place
One of the Mets better prospects, Jake Mangum, they just let him rot at AAA
There’s players like that all over the place
In one offseason the Pirates could be a playoff contender with what they have just by getting rid of the Tsutsugo’s and going to AAA and waiver guys nobody thinks is any good
Hayes needs a swing change to put the ball in the air more. He definitely can be a 15-20 homer type of guy he just hits too many grounders and low liners. If I were pitching to him absolutely nothing would come in above the belt because he can’t elevate the ball.
It’s a good sign that Yoshi was dfa’d but the real move I’m looking for is the VanMeter dfa with Bae coming up to replace him.
Cruz was the most boom or bust type guy that I can recall being rated so high. That speaks volumes to the insane ceiling of his potential but the probable outcome or expectation should always have been a .240ish average, .300 obp, 20-25 homer bat that will most likely end up in a corner outfield spot. Not a terrible player to have but far from a superstar. Here’s to hoping he can pick up on breaking balls quicker, swing less at pitches out of the zone, swing more at pitches in the zone and learn to take more walks.
Come on Dream GM. You know you want to.
Someone here wrote that Cruz was resisting any move to the outfield. Others were posting comments about his defensive difficulties which in all truth, I haven’t seen
Something has to give. The organization is awash in middle infielders and bingo, make their first round pick a shortstop
If nothing else, the depth gives them the ability to stack each position with solid players, or at least you’d hope
Kind of odd that 1st base doesn’t seem to have that same depth
I don’t know what you are watching….Cruz just hit his 9 th home run. He’s going to be a superstar. As for the other young buccos, they will be good….and Mitchell will not be there when they put it all together. Whatever your snorting..it must be powerful
Buuba- Cruz May have a lot of power but his average is 213 and ops 94..He is a young player and should only get better but ML pitchers have a way of figuring out a hitter’s weak points.If he adjusts well he will become a good hitter He is certainly an exciting one but let’s not put him in the HOF just yet.
He’s the one with the highest chance of developing a successful hitting approach
=======================================
I’m curious to hear your rationale for this assessment. I generally look at K/W, relative to power, what level they are in, relative to age, and then circle back to FG to see their assessment.
I don’t see anything in his present and past performances to suggest that he is even an adequate hitter.
Right now Bae is hurt. Or he would have already been put on the roster.
People should leave player assessment to the scouts and the professionals. Not the average trade rumor poster
Hayes needs to be what he was earlier in the season at the plate. A high average gap guy with a good OPS. You are right, he will never hit 20 in a season. Assuming cruz is a HR guy at SS, I feel like that kinda makes up for hayes lack of power. He has to be better though to justify the contract against RHP. Defense is just not enough.
When you thought protypical lead off hitter your first thought wasn’t JVM?
In defense of the pirates, he was good at the end of the season last year and gave them power which they lacked. Moran was going to be due about the same amount yoshi got in arbitration so they made the switch. I wasn’t for the 2 years like they wanted, presumably so he would get more in a trade. I thought it was a risk worth taking that he had things figured out and last season wasn’t just a fluke. Luckily for them it was a year only and something they cheaply could get away from.
Buuba-But That is the fun part about this site.We can all be GM’s and voice our opinions.
The problem is that some take themselves too seriously and react when their opinions are questioned.
True. But when a guy says mitchell is the pirates best hitter, it’s hard to take him seriously. He had a hot start at indy this season and made himself a part of the mix. That’s as far as you can go with him.
Agree with you on Yoshi.
But again,the backup to the backup plan?
Josh Van Meter!
@buccrazy I said he’s the best “hitter”, not necessarily that he’ll be able to put it all together and put up the best numbers
He has good mechanics and a smooth swing that stays level through the zone. He can go the other way and hit to all fields
Whether Mitchell is coached properly and ends up doing that remains to be seen
And you know a lot about hitting?
Too bad it didn’t work out. He certainly got paid for a relatively small sample size last year.
Excited to see what Marcano can do when given major playing time. I think he’s going to be very good.
I agree, and I hope they’re not hurrying him, he’s only 22. But boy he does look like a keeper.
Maybe. But he’s done all he needs to do in the minors. He just needs time to adjust to the majors. His first two games against the Dodgers showed what he is capable of.
Yoshi parlayed a good month or two last summer into $5 million this year.
Not sure the guy who was supposed to be a power bat in the middle of the Pirates lineup ever had a pull side extra base hit this year.
In my best Charles Barkley voice…TURRIBLE, just TURRIBLE!
Finally!
Horrible bust hard to believe this guy had more single season hr in Japan than either ohtani and ichiro
Ichiro wasn’t a power hitter…
Over .500 in one year? Wow, lookout MLB! Here comes Camden453 to figure out what no GM ever has before!
Ohtani came here at 23. Ichiro wasn’t a power hitter. Lack of baseball knowledge is no excuse for poor research.
He gave it a shot. Wouldn’t be surprising if some team gives him another chance, but not exactly a bad situation. Still only 30 years old and his former Japanese team, or another some team in Japan, will pay him millions to return home.
He has always seemed to me like a genuinely good guy who tries, maybe too hard sometimes, to be a power bat. I hope he does well wherever he lands.
Why would any MLB give him a chance 31 yrs old
Can’t hit
Can’t field
Can’t run
It’s like you signed me as a player
The Bucs have to take relatively low-priced gambles on veterans. Quintana and Vogelbach worked out wonderfully. Yoshi and Roberto Perez, not so much (and in Roberto’s case, bad luck as opposed to bad play). All in all, you really shouldn’t be upset with Yoshi or the Bucs: it just didn’t work this year.
He was worth a one year gamble because they were going to have pay moran roughly the same thing anyways. Good thing he didn’t take the 2 years like was reportedly offered. Have to think he had in the back of his mind he would go back to Japan if it didn’t work out.
Perez was a stupid signing. From a team that enjoys pinching pennies, they signed a catcher who is always injured. Guess what? He’s injured himself months ago and is out for the year.
Pérez actually is a pretty good catcher but BC literally and figuratively had no backup plan for the inevitable injury to any first string catcher.
In order to have a back up plan, they needed to spend a few dollars. After giving Perez $5m, Nutting probably told Cherington to dumpster dive
I said the same exact thing. However, I think we are the minority on this opinion. A team that cries poor throws 5 mil at an old guy always hurt. They are reaping what they sow going through the trash to limp to end the of the season with the garbage behind the plate that they have. Maybe they learned a lesson for the future?
Maybe,maybe not.History does repeat itself.I just think that especially at catcher you have to have at least a couple of good backups.If you and I can figure it out BC should have been able to do so.I know that they did not want to pay for redundancy,but at this position this is where the cheapness comes out to bite them.I will say,though,that after trading Stallings there may not have been much on the free agent list,and remember that the better catchers would have wanted to play for the better teams.
Learning lessons requires logic. According to Forbes, Nutting made a $44 million dollar profit last year as owner of the Pirates.
Cutting into his profits will be why we’ll continue to dumpster dive the rest of the year.
Bringing up anyone that has a chance of reaching super 2 status will not be permitted
After Suwinski debuted very early this year and hit 15 HRs, they promptly sent him to AAA…. can’t risk even the fringiest of ball players a chance at Super 2 status
Now how about Van Meter
Also just realized…. Bucs got Marcano and Jack Suwinski for Adam Frazier? Yeah, so far so good on that move.
I’m kind of surprised no team bid for Gamel and believe that out of all the deadwood here, he can be a mentor for the rest of the season. But Tsutsugo being DFA’d should be the start of loading the bus. Take VanMeter and Marisnik along
I feel the same about Gamel, but then I looked at his numbers and remembered that he’s simply an ordinary player who likely no one offered much of anything for. The “problem” is that the Bucs have quite a few young OFs to take a look at, and almost all of them hit left-handed, just like Gamel. We know who Gamel is: decent player, good leader. Let’s see more of Suwinski, Madris, Mitchell, Swaggerty, etc. now.
I don’t get why these guys have a soft spot for gamel. They tried to get rid of him and no one wanted him even for cash considerations. He looks good because of what else they have which is nothing. Marcano is going to cut his and Newmans (another guy who no one wanted) playing time.
Yeah, you and MonkeysUncle are right. I’ve been pounding the “play the kids” drum since May and my post sounds contradictory. You’re right, of course. Gamel and Newman (and VanMeter and Marisnik) can’t be taking up roster spots over the kids
Was good seeing Gamel go full throttle out there but there’s a reason he’s still here
Fair enough. He plays hard but just isn’t that good ultimately. Remember, it’s better if you are good at something in particular. Nothing really stands out with him. You can probably add Greg Allen to that list of guys in your last post, but not really sure what they think of him because he was hurt for the better part of the season. It’s going to be a balancing act of how desperate they are to get the young guy up, what they can do, and who they can replace.
They have had 13 players make their ML debut this year. They are letting the kids play.
Except for O’Neil Cruz that’s almost every player on the pirates now. That’s how bad they are.
They’re kids. It’s to be expected, really. That they can muster wins like they have the past two nights is acceptable because again, seems like there is finally light at the end of the tunnel
Right now, they’re a difficult team to watch day in and day out but you’re seeing less of the dumpster-dive players in the lineup that you saw earlier. Agree with Mendoza (below) that Shelton is finally providing a lot more opportunities than when we would see lineups with VanMeter batting 4th and Gamel, Marisnik and Vogie in the same starting 9.
These “kids” have been playing baseball their entire lives
Stop making excuses for them.
TheMan-You are correct,but they have not played at all in the major leagues,and that is a whole nother ballgame.
It’s about time!
Eh, timing makes sense. They played him a bunch in July in the feeble hope that someone would trade for him. And now that it didn’t happen, they didn’t waste any time in cutting bait. I hope Van Meter follows soon after, Sheldon’s love affair with him is beyond inexplicable.
Someone had to of lost a bet to keep playing Van Meter.
I’m sure even he’s surprised to see his name on the lineup card regularly.
I was fine with how long they kept him. He was hurt for a good portion of the year. He could have got thrown into a trade like Stratton did. No reason not to keep your options open. However, hopefully yesterday was a good dose of reality for them.
Now let’s do van meter, Gamel and Underwood. Newman benched what reeks with hypocrisy is they send down suwinsky and Castillo for low average, but kept yoshi and van meter who are both under 200. Between suwinsky and Castillo they have 24 home runs. Bring on the kids this month. Don’t wait till September. And hurdle and Shelton are both the same. They would play Rodriguez and van meter no matter how bad they stunk.
Buuba-I certainly agree with you about Van Meter But SRod was one of the best utilitymen that the Pirates ever had.I am talking about 2015 and 2016, which he parlayed into a somewhat big contract with the Braves.Then of course he had the misfortune to be in an automobile accident early in 2017 and it basically destroyed his career.
Anyone who remembers the clowns that the Pirates had on the bench in 2014 remember SRod fondly.He replaced two or three of them.Hurdle knew that he was fortunate to have him.
This was a long time coming. Some thought he’d be better after his injury rehab, but that wasn’t the case.
They told Yoshi’s translator that he was also fired.
Too bad he was a good translator. Imagine if he was a bad translator and messed up the you’ve been DFAd part and conveyed “great news, you’ve just won a new car and all expenses vacation, just sign here”. Now that would be awkward.
should’ve happened when he came off the IL but maybe they were hoping to bundle him in with another trade.
Not really excited with Marcano, his short sample at AAA and MLB isn’t all that good. Would rather see Martin called up to see what happens since that’s the goal of 2022. It may not work out but i don’t see it being worse than Yoshi.
Martin still has power. where he is getting hurt the most is the BABIP since coming up to AAA but his K rate is up too. he still mashes the ball though and has good experience with Cruz.
I’d let him play a month in the MLB at least. Now is the time when the Wins don’t really matter.
I disagree. I think you give Marcano a very long look before some of the other MI prospects start coming up just to see what his ceiling is.
I don’t think Martin belongs in the majors right now but hell, might as well bring him up given they have nothing else to lose.
Now is not the time for Martin. He’s been on a pretty terrible 6-8 week stretch and there’s no way that would get better by facing better pitching.
AAA Stats are not unimportant but only part of the picture.
I haven’t seen much AAA video but before it looked like he should be about ready.. his raw power is undeniable and somehow he is a good deal quicker around the bases.
But on the stat front, Through May he was doing rather well. june and most of july where horrid but last 10 suggests he might be coming out of it.
I still say call him up. My comp for him is a better fielding Pedro.. not gold glove… just better.. which i guess isn’t hard to do..
Sorry to hear it Yoshi. Sad to see Tsutsugo
There must be some misunderstanding
I think that Marcano has a sweet swing and should turn out to be a good player.He went 1 for 24 at the end of his trial run and when that happens,like Suwinski and Mitchell,it is time to give them more AAA reps.
Van Meter’s fairy tale will end soon when they put Bae on the 25 and 40 man rosters.It is inexplicable why he has played so much and for so long.
Martin was told to curb his K’s evidently by BC and has not done so.It would not be bad to give him a month in the ML’s,but I fear that he would strike out half the timeand probably ruin any chance that he had to contribute.
I have actually been fairly impressed with how BC and DS have handled the young players this year.It should give them a good idea as to who to keep and who to trade.
Tsu-tsu, Tsu go! Whoa!
Well if you need 8 home runs and 20 to 30 runs batted in here’s your boy!
Cuto’s to Yoshi and his commitment. With his comparisons in success from Japan to MLB; It shows he’s really trying to make it work rather than high tail it back to Yokohama.
All the best to Yoshi.
I blame Nancy Pelosi for this
I like the direction Pittsburgh is going.
Hayes
Cruz
Reynolds
Suwinski
Mitchell (?)
Marcano
Contreras
Bednar
Crowe
Keller
Brubaker
Not all AS’s of course, but that’s a whole bunch of guys that can play league-average and better, and with a substantial amount of control left.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Bucs take a flier on Bobby Bradley, who Cleveland just released.
Guy needs to go back to Yokohama and smash some balls.
He’ll suck in Japan too when he comes back pitching velo is way up 5 no hitters this year 6 pitchers have hit 100 mph many younger pitchers throw upper 90’s.
You can’t safely assume that; Akiyama’s been doing well since his return.
So he could go back to Japan and join a club there.
This guy probably left zero memory to the MLB fans. Zero fan will remember him after he’s gone. That’s how influential this guy was, zero. No, wait. l take it back. Everyone will actually remember him for something. They will remember that his last home run as a Major was from none other than Yadier Molina the catcher, not a pitcher.
I remember his walkoff homer he hit last year off Alex Reyes.
I’ll remember he’ll be a horrible MLB garbage bust for eternity
The Pirates management is following the classic recipe for disaster: release all the veterans & flood the roster with prospects. This almost never works out well.
When you look at teams that have built solid rosters, they have at least 2 or 3 older guys who are great in the clubhouse & who mentor the younger talent. Release a guy like Marisnick and you’ve lost an invaluable asset.
Too much focus on numbers & statistics makes for a dull game because teams without commraderie will basically suck.
I honestly think that they did that partially to give Jake a chance to be picked up by a playoff bound team.
I believe that another poster on this site was correct in saying that the Pirates system is deep but they have no sure fire candidates to succeed.He said that there will be 40 man roster problems over the winter.I think that what they are doing this year is measuring how good the current young players can be to see who they want to keep.There is enough dead wood that they will be able to dfa enough of them to be able to keep the minor leaguers that they want to keep.
Not sure whether Shelton and his coaches will last.The hitting has been atrocious.Maybe keep the pitching coach like they did with Ray Searage.