The Pirates are in agreement with right-hander Carson Fulmer on a minor league deal, reports Robert Murray of FanSided (X link). The Icon Sports Management client will be in MLB camp as a non-roster invitee.
Pittsburgh’s interest in the 31-year-old Fulmer as a depth option goes back a few years. They claimed the former eighth overall pick off waivers twice during the 2020 season. Pittsburgh never used in an MLB game and designated him for assignment early in the following year. While Fulmer hasn’t donned a Bucs uniform in the majors, he has appeared for five teams over a career spanning parts of eight seasons. A good portion of that work came with the White Sox early in his career.
After bouncing around in journeyman fashion, Fulmer found something of a home with the Angels. He inked a minor league deal with the Halos in 2023 and nabbed a spot on the big league roster late in the season. While they waived him at season’s end, they brought him back on another minor league deal and called him up within two weeks of the ’24 campaign.
Fulmer stuck on the roster for the rest of the season. He started eight of 37 appearances and logged a career-high 86 2/3 innings. The Vanderbilt product turned in a 4.15 ERA with a 21.4% strikeout rate that’s a little below average. He issued walks at a slight elevated 10.6% rate. The Halos ran him through waivers at the end of the year, sending him back to minor league free agency. He’ll battle for a spot in Derek Shelton’s bullpen during Spring Training.
On his birthday. Good for him
It _is_ the Pirates. Are you sure it’s something to celebrate?
Playing baseball in a mlb team system vs posting nonsense as a fan in mlb TradeRumors forum. I’m going to say everyone but you would rather be Fulmer
I’m a Pirates fan you goofs. He did not sign with an MLB team.
Where did you play ball, IsIt2025?
MLB the Show 2024 mostly and it was just as close to the big leagues as the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
Ohhhh IsIt2025… so you’re a child, makes sense that you just don’t know any better.
I’m 42 and I’ve watched more losing baseball than fans of any other team in MLB, thank you very much. He joined a MiLB team.
Pick another team to root for 2025, you’ve been DFA’ed.
Obvious troll is obvious. Later IsIt2025!
Isit2025already. That’s a feat being 42 years old, and still not understanding depth signings. If you’re trying to be funny you clearly weren’t.
Why would I do that after all these years of watching pathetic baseball?
The comment section here is more sensitive lad than Fangraphs even. I thought that was impossible.
You’ve already proven you don’t understand anything 2025! I rest my case.
I don’t give a rats ass about your case, MLBTR commentor South Park fan.
Lmao
All jokes aside, the Pirates are as much a major league team as much as fulmer is a major league signing
Here I agree.
Of course he is going to celebrate. Another chance to achieve his dream. Besides 80% of players are just like Nutting. They don’t care if they win as long as they are getting paid.
If we could make a living playing baseball pretty sure most of us here would do it. Doing it with a shot at making a big league club even if it is the pirates or what ever team you feel like crapping on at the moment is a blessing.
Yeah probably taking your comment to seriously, but really it could be worse, could be the Reds :-p
I wouldn’t with a cheap owner like Nutting. Flying in America is insane now. Can you imagine flying Frontier and Spirit all spring and summer just to save Nickels Nutting a few bucks while playing ball with untalented players and moron-but-cheap coaches. Imagine the terrible hotels these guys stay in.
Per flightgeek, Pirates flew United…..but it was Boeing’s 737 Max (dry gulp) that Pittsburgh and other teams flew us
airlinegeeks.com/2024/03/13/all-30-mlb-team-air-tr….
either you lie,played 20 years of pro ball with a franchise that spoiled you. or maybe you didn’t enjoy playing baseball.
could you imagine being a struggling ball player on a team with a small budget that will give you a chance and you take that chance and run with it then get traded to the eventual world series champs?
Ball players want to play ball. Yes they want a winning team but they’ll generally take what is available to them for the chance to be on a winning team regardless of what team that may end up being.
I guess you could just be the average Nutting hater who blames every misstep directly to him rather than the people he hired to do it for him.
Nutting is a moron skinflint welfare queen.
Are you Bob’s ex-wife? Your posts read like a vindictive and scorned lover, 2025.
A+
Well, given this trajectory and knowing how his peers “progress”, I guess this means he’ll be playing in Asia in ‘26
Pittsburgh. Gateway to the Orient
Minor league teams are gonna be loaded
Another big move
filling up with ‘cheap’ options to throw at the wall is rarely a bad thing. if it works, win win. If it doesn’t work well fine for the team and the player got some work in, so its not a loss really.
Someone needs to slow down Cherington, he is spending way too much of Nutting’s money
Fulmer isn’t a bad minor league signing. he showed flashes of turning the corner.
Okay this is getting kinda confusing!
Within a span of 4 hours there is an article about Carson Kelly, an article about Michael Fulmer, and now an article about Carson Fulmer..
What the Fro-Yo!!
Great story. Hope he keeps it going.
Nutting is going to spend his tax haul 5 bucks at a time. Well done.
i am so gonna waste skenes
He won’t be an underserving HOFer like the Pirate that is going in soon
Dave Parker is far more deserving than Harold Baines was and he’s in
You’re just jealous because you thought being able to hit a ball off of a T could get you in
Serious question. At what point does MLB step in? How much power do they have? Can they at least make Nutting spend the profit sharing money on the players? Any chance of a salary floor?
We are already at a point where single players make more than entire teams. Ohtani (even though most is differed) made more money last year than A’s total payroll. We are a few years away from someone signing a billion dollar contract.
I’m not a Dodgers/Yankees/Mets hater. I wish Pirates had an owner that liked to spend money. But it’s getting to be not so competitive of a sport. The only competition is during the offseason and trade deadline.
And how much does Nutting actually pocket? I’ve read anywhere from 35 Million to 350 Million a year.
ALL of it.
According to Nutting and mlb the pirates are 100% compliant with revenue sharing spending. Mlb tried to remove the unions complaints during labor negotiations. They didn’t go for it last I heard. Haven’t heard anything about it since. They just file them and they never get heard apparently or it isn’t a story worth reporting on.
After looking at what their owner did to the A’s, isn’t it apparent that the Billionaire Boys Club has carts Blanche? That is, they have an incredible group of revenue streams for each franchise and really, the wins and losses are ancillary.
Look, the interview with Cuban 3 or 4 years ago was the end all for the discussion. In it, he said that Nutting would be insane to sell, that the profits were far too great.
Mark Cuban
What more needs to be said, really?
THIS WAS A MINOR LEAGUE SIGNING.. This is where you choose to start a state of competitive balance / small market spending debate?
Did that upset you? I’m sorry. While I’m at it, why the hell would WVU bring Dick Rod back? After the way he left.
yes, this is where you start a conversation about how cheap ownership is because there’s very few articles about the Pirates transactions except when they sign up nobody at a cheap price because that represents this franchise
cheap nobodies
Yes, look at all the activity and impact it has when this conversation is started for a MINOR league signing. Dang.. I am overwhelmed. . No, the place you start that conversation is when they sign somebody who WILL be on their MLB roster and then they try to convince we as fans that they couldn’t have done better with just some type of financial commitment. Think the Tellez signing last year when they actually had a REAL announcement and tried to convince we the fans this was the middle of the order power hitter that was needed when in reality it was bargain basement shopping. . All teams wealthy and cheap make this type of minor league signing…. nothing to see here.
@Bucco79
1. Nutting’s cheapness definitely hinders Pirates competitiveness.
2. MLB & MLBPA only care about large market teams spending. They hate it when teams like D’backs make the WS…bad for ratings.
3. No way Nutting makes anywhere close to $350 mm, but he is guaranteed a tidy profit every full season because of his frugal business plan.
So if he makes $100M it’s ok with you
Got it
Point is, I don’t think anyone wishes to dissuade someone from making a buck. But watch It’s A Wonderful Life and realize Nutting is our Mr.Potter
Same greed. Same business practices
What’s so un-American about a business making a profit? The Yankees and LAD likely make more bucks than Pittsburgh.
You’re missing the point. Again
Every business looks to make profits
Here’s a guy who’s so profit obsessed that it killing the idea of putting a decent—just a decent—-product on the field. After all, he’d have to spend at least a little on some players
$35-50 million is what Forbes says he profits annually
And isn’t MLB employees paid for by the owners?
You get a Carson, and YOU get a Carson! EVERYBODY GETS A CARSON!
The very well traveled Carson Fulmer. Nothing but a disappointment for every team that gives him a shot. Not to sound so negative, but good lort. This dude has gotten more chances than any other player I’ve ever known.
He was okay for the Angels. Nothing to write home about, but respectable.
Well, 0-5 and 1.396 WHIP is not really respectable, but I didn’t watch him.
this isn’t 1991. Win loss record is irrelevant
To some, but not to others. I’ll take a 15 win starting pitcher any day of the week. Give me 4 of them and my teams in the playoffs.
Baltimore had 4 twenty game winners in
1971 and still didn’t win the World Series
Yes. 15 wins means he ate up some innings.
You’re right. Wins and losses don’t mean as much now that we have other statistics. But, when you use other statistics like I did (the 1.396 WHIP), it can tell a story. He pitched in a lot of traffic and blew at least 5 games. That doesn’t count the other games he might have blown but didn’t show up in his loss column.
Won loss record is hardly irrelevant.
It is just not the final answer that it was in 1991.
If you look at the top ten winning pitchers over the last 5 years and the top ten losing pitchers over the last 5 years which group do you think has decidedly higher annual salaries?
Carson Fulmer: the holiday fruitcake that gets re-gifted from one unsuspecting recipient to the next
Abandoned ship Bob. Sell the team.
Please.
He said he won’t. He wants his daughters to inherit it and run it like skinflints as he has.
Meh. However I said then same about Joey Wentz and he looked ok
Big day for the Fulmer Brothers!
Paul-That is why he is loathe to increase payroll unless it can really make a difference in the standings outcome.It is about a 5% return on the current team value according to Forbes I believe.
He will pay more if they show that they have a good team.
He needs more than morons working for him though to produce one.Player development and team management are the keys to any small market team contention capability.
But under the fine print Nutting is realizing a 10% annual increase in his investment in the value of the team.He has been in it for the long term.
He will also have people to figure out some sort of tax loophole to lower taxes if and when he sells.