Pirates Acquire Brett de Geus

The Pirates have acquired right-hander Brett de Geus from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash, per announcements from both clubs. Toronto designated de Geus for assignment last week to create 40-man roster space for Jeff Hoffman.

The 27-year-old de Geus pitched 11 1/3 innings in the majors last year over the course of brief stints with the Mariners, Marlins and Blue Jays. He yielded nine earned runs in that time (7.15 ERA) and has a career 7.48 ERA in parts of two big league seasons (61 1/3 innings).

Obviously, that number is an eyesore, and de Geus’ career marks in Triple-A don’t inspire much more confidence (6.66 ERA in 50 innings). However, teams looking beneath the hood will see a sinker that averages better than 96 mph, consistently plus ground-ball rates, and interesting swing-and-miss data on the 6’2″ righty’s secondary offerings (cutter, knuckle curve, and seldom-used splitter). A former Rule 5 pick, de Geus has seen time with the Royals, Mariners, Marlins, Jays and now Pirates over the past two calendar years.

While de Geus will have to earn a spot in Pittsburgh’s bullpen — if he survives the rest of the winter on the 40-man roster — he won’t necessarily have to break camp with the club if he doesn’t. He has two minor league option years remaining, so the Bucs can hold onto him as relief depth to begin the season if they’re so inclined, with no risk of exposing him to waivers.

Despite the lack of success in the majors and upper minors, de Geus has been on four different 40-man rosters since April and six dating back to 2021. On the one hand, it’s easy to argue that’s because he’s routinely proven expendable. On the other, it’s also indicative of the fact that even with the unsightly earned run averages, teams have had a hard time sneaking de Geus through waivers. It’s clear that clubs are intrigued by his raw stuff, even if the results have yet to line up.