As noted by Kevin Gorman of Tribune-Review Sports, the Pirates have traded catcher Tyler Heineman to the Blue Jays in exchange for minor league infielder Vinny Capra. Capra was assigned to Triple-A. Per The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath, Toronto assigned Jordan Luplow outright to Triple-A to make room on the 40-man roster for Heineman, who was optioned to Triple-A. Heineman had been designated for assignment by the Pirates earlier this week.
This moves marks Heineman’s second stint with the Blue Jays. An eighth round pick by the Astros in the 2012 draft, Heineman was on his fourth organization by the time he made his major league debut with the Marlins in 2019. He then appeared in 15 games for the Giants during the shortened 2020 season before signing a minor league deal in Toronto ahead of the 2022 season. Heineman appeared in ten games with the Jays before the Pirates claimed him off waivers from the club last May.
Heineman played in 52 games for the Pirates, by far the longest stint in the majors of his career. During that time, he slashed just .211/.277/.254 over 158 plate appearances. Following the 2023 campaign, Heineman was non-tendered by the Pirates but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal. He was selected to the roster early in the season and appeared in three games for the club before being DFA’d, a move which opened the door for his return to Toronto. Heineman figures to serve as catching depth for the Blue Jays in Triple-A. Prior to the addition of Heineman, the Blue Jays had no catchers on the 40-man roster besides their current tandem of Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen.
Going the other way is Capra, a 26-year-old who made his MLB debut one year ago tomorrow. While he slashed just .200/.429/.200 in eight games with the Blue Jays last year, Capra has a solid .263/.347/.393 slash line over five seasons in the minors. Capra also brings versatility to the table, with considerable time in the outfield corners in addition to regular work at shortstop, second base, and third base. Capra was non-tendered by Toronto back in November, but re-signed with the club on a minor league deal just days later.
As for Luplow, the 29-year-old outfielder is in his seventh season in the big leagues. Toronto claimed him off waivers from the Braves earlier this season, but he struggled in a four game stint with the club, striking out four times and drawing a walk but recording no hits during that time. Luplow has since been optioned to Triple-A, and will now need to be re-added to the 40-man roster before he can return to big leagues with the Blue Jays. Despite his struggles this season, Luplow has been a solid bat in the past, with a career wRC+ of 101 including a 123 mark from 2019-2021.
What is going on with people trading for their own recycled nothings back? Familiarity?
obviously not nothings if they need them back
Wow not often you see the best team in both leagues make a big trade like this with each other.
Who would have thought anyone would be calling the pirates the best team in the nl? Great to see, they deserve it. I really like what the pirates did in the off season
Cherington will be dumpster diving if there’s a desperate need for a catcher, especially if Endy or Hedges gets injured
they have other internal options. there are AAA options outside of Endy though a healthy Endy is probably the top of the list probably next month once he adjusts. Hopefully sooner than later so Davis has a clearer path to AAA. he is doing well in AA.
there is also Santana as an emergency catcher even though he hasn’t had serious time at catcher for 10 or so years
read it again joe
IF Endy and Hedges get injured BC will be dumpster diving for another catcher
SMH!
read again TheMan
They have other internal options…
Davis is at AA Altoona, the only other option if both Hedges and Endy get injured
Do you suffer from reading comprehension?
pirates have other catchers in AAA and AA that are likely just as good options if they are ‘dumpster diving’.
Did you even bother to look at their roster? now you will and look for an excuse to say they are not viable. which is fine. under normal circumstances….but if there are that serious of injuries they can make room on the 40man.
What about Delay?
I don’t particularly care for you referring to acquiring a person as “dumpster diving” as if the person was garbage.
the baseball definition of dumpster diving is acquiring a player that has already been designated for assignment
It’s not a knock on the player but instead the cheapness of the team that needs a specific player
There is always a catcher who is of Heineman’s skill level available.. They have Bins and Koch in AAA and Davis in AA so he could play most every day at catcher as Endy is getting the daily work in AAA. Not really an issue for me.
Bins is in AA hitting 212 and I do not think Koch is useful.
A major injury like what happened last year to Perez would at least put the Pirates now in a temporary bind.
Heinaman’s type may be plentiful but not sure how available they would be and at what price.
Yeah the short term the loss of him hurts. Going to be a nervous few weeks. They won’t bring up endy/Davis before mid June no way no how. Hedges is already taking a beating.
Buc-History repeats itself.I never thought that Tyler Heinamen was all that important,and I understand that they do have a real roster crunch now.,but it is not that easy to just go out and get an experienced major league catcher who is reasonably good behind the plate.There May be a couple free agents left but it would take them a month to get ramped up.Even late 20’s catchers are going to take a beating.Hopefully they do not have any major injuries as Endy May be able to fill in for a couple of weeks but that would be learning the hard way.
The fact they are winning is also a big thing. If they were 9-20 I’d say who cares. Austin wynns just got DFA. I’d hate to lose a year of control on endy or Davis for a month of playing. Although if it’s hedges that gets hurt, you may see them be forced to do it like you said. It’s obvious they don’t want delay as anything more than a backup. They aren’t in any position to go through what they did last season at C after this start.
Super 2, not service time. Sorry. If they are winning that shouldn’t matter though IMO, but I’m sure it will.
The Jays do have Daulton Varsho as a C on the 40 man. No, he’s not likely to strap on the gear this year, but if Kirk and Jansen both got hurt…
I would put Heineman on the active roster. Lukes and Luplow have not been used anyway. Having a third catcher lets you pinch run, which the Jays have been reluctant to do.
Luplow is gone.
Seems like a swap of players that were not going to get anytime at the MLB level. Getting Carpa makes it easier to keep Maggi on the MLB roster. Probably not but would be nice to see for a little while longer. The PR and enthusiasm related to him is pretty great.
I figured that the Pirates would lose Heinaman this time around.
He is excellent AAA depth.
They may figure that the guy that they got from the Mainers two years ago for Tyler Anderson May be able to substitute for him if needed for a short stretch.
Maggi has been taken off the roster and sent to the minors.
He has a lifetime batting average of 333 at 34 years of age.
At least they got a decent player for Heinaman.He may not have fallen that far to the Blue Jays otherwise.
Who’d have thought that Delay made holding on to Heineman un-necessary? A lot of things are falling into place for the Bucs. This is one I never saw coming
Corn-Delay is now the Roy Campanella of the Pirates.
Luplow is a former Pirate. This is all just to fill minor league team needs.
Wouldn’t Brantly have served the same purpose? He had a better than average spring, and has started well at Buffalo.
Buc-I saw the article on Wynn’s and thought of this discussion.He would be fine for even a medium term replacement but the problem would be is that he does not know the pitchers.In retrospect it may have been better for the Pirates to sign someone short term for Hedges’ concussion and keep Heinaman in AAA for any long term issues.
Not so sure about your second point about Delay.That was true at the start of the year but I do not think now.The young guys will take at least another year to get fully up to speed and probably will never be as good as Delay at catching,I know that his hitting is not sustainable but right now they are co number ones.Inasmuch as both Endy and Davis can play other positions if Delay keeps anywhere close to this hitting the whole year the Pirates’ plans may change.
AAA depth player usually. The replacement player used to figure out War. At best. That’s what the pirates lost in Heineman.
What they lost is a fine defensive player who knew the pitching staff very well.
That is not easy to replace in an emergency.
So weird that Varsho isn’t even considered an option for a 3rd catcher? I mean he is probably still better than Heineman!