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Phillies Claim Tim Mayza

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3:51PM: The Phillies officially announced Mayza’s claim, and Wheeler was placed on the 60-day IL in the corresponding move.

12:32PM: The Phillies have claimed left-hander Tim Mayza off waivers from the Pirates, according to a press release from the Bucs’ Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis (hat tip to MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf).  Philadelphia will need to clear a 40-man roster spot before the transaction becomes official, although this can easily be done by transferring Zack Wheeler to the 60-day injured list.

Mayza himself has been on the 60-day IL for much of the season, as the veteran reliever hasn’t pitched in a big league game since April due to a lat strain and a teres major strain.  Mayza did start a rehab assignment this month, and pitched in four games (two in A-ball, two in Indianapolis) while working his way up to full readiness.

It would seem like Mayza is getting pretty close to being ready for an activation, and he’ll get to make his return for a contending team in Philadelphia.  There hasn’t been any public word that Mayza had designated for assignment or placed on outright waivers, though those moves aren’t always publicized, especially during August waiver claim season.

In adding Mayza prior to September 1, the Phillies ensure that Mayza is eligible for selection on a postseason roster.  Between Jose Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and Tanner Banks, the Phils already have a good amount of left-handed bullpen depth, though it certainly doesn’t hurt to have another experienced arm on hand.  Mayza has pitched in each of the last three postseasons, amassing a 2.08 ERA over 4 1/3 total playoff innings with the Blue Jays and Yankees.

Pittsburgh signed Mayza to a one-year, $1.15MM free agent deal back in February.  The contract ended up being a wash for the team due to Mayza’s extended injury absence, though he did post a 2.89 ERA over his 9 1/3 innings in a Bucs uniform.  The lefty was a pretty effective bullpen arm for most of his tenure in Toronto, but he struggled badly early in 2024 and was designated for assignment mid-season, with the Yankees putting in a claim.  Mayza somewhat righted the ship with a 4.00 ERA over 18 innings for New York, but the Yankees still chose to non-tender him following the season.

With the Pirates well out of contention, the waiver claim will save Pittsburgh the approximately $190K remaining on Mayza’s 2025 salary.  Since the Phillies are well over the highest tier of luxury tax penalization, Mayza’s price tag will cost them over $400K in both actual salary and additional tax money, though that isn’t exactly a big expenditure for a free-spending club intent on winning a championship.

Blue Jays Claim Isiah Kiner-Falefa

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The Blue Jays have claimed utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa off waivers from the Pirates, as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Toronto subsequently announced the move and transferred right-hander Yimi Garcia to the 60-day injured list in order to create a 40-man roster spot for Kiner-Falefa.

It’s a homecoming for Kiner-Falefa, who signed with Toronto prior to the 2024 season but was traded to Pittsburgh at last year’s trade deadline. Just over a year later, he’s headed back to the Blue Jays to join the team’s bench for the playoff push. Unlike last year, Toronto is firmly in playoff position with a two-game lead in the AL East. While Kiner-Falefa was a regular fixture on the club’s infield during his first stint with the organization, that’s unlikely to be the case this season given that Andres Gimenez has taken over the everyday second base job while Ernie Clement and Addison Barger have split time at the hot corner.

Of course, Kiner-Falefa isn’t having quite as strong of a season this year as he was when Toronto traded him last year. In 83 games with the Blue Jays in 2024, the utility man slashed an excellent .292/.338/.400 (113 wRC+) while playing superlative defense on the infield for the club. He showed uncharacteristic power in those games, swatting seven homers in just 281 plate appearances, and kept his strikeouts to just a 13.2% clip. That hot stretch caught the attention of the Pirates as they looked to make modest upgrades to their offense last year, but Kiner-Falefa regressed badly and hit just .256/.288/.328 (70 wRC+) across his 169 games in a Pirates uniform.

That production is more befitting of a bench role, but on a weak Pirates offense that had already moved Oneil Cruz to center field last year and trade away Ke’Bryan Hayes at this summer’s deadline, it was enough to earn Kiner-Falefa everyday reps. Perhaps now that the 30-year-old is back in an organization he had considerable success with and will be able to step back into a smaller role, he’ll be able to rediscover the form that made him such an attractive trade piece last summer. Kiner-Falefa could certainly push himself into additional playing time if his performance warrants it; while Barger is unlikely to lose at-bats to the utility man given his strong season this year, he could simply spend more time in right field going forward if the Jays want to get Kiner-Falefa into the lineup more often.

From the Pirates perspective, the move opens up playing time for newly promoted infielder Cam Devanney. Perhaps more importantly in the eyes of Pittsburgh brass, the Blue Jays will take on the remainder of Kiner-Falefa’s $7.5MM salary for the 2025 season. Perhaps that money, as well as other funds saved by trading players like Hayes this summer, will be put towards upgrading the offense this winter.

As for Garcia, the news that he’s been placed on the 60-day injured list is hardly a surprise given that he underwent season-ending elbow surgery on Friday. Garcia finishes the 2025 campaign with a 3.86 ERA and 3.83 FIP in 21 innings of work, and the Jays will have to rely on other veterans in the bullpen like Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez to make up for Garcia’s absence.

Pirates Promote Cam Devanney, Place Ronny Simon On 10-Day IL

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2:27PM: The Pirates officially announced Devanney’s promotion, with Simon heading to the 10-day IL.  Simon suffered a dislocated left shoulder, so in all likelihood his 2025 season is over.  Making his MLB debut with the Marlins earlier this year, Simon’s first year in the Show saw him hit .234/.299/.273 over 88 total PA with Miami and Pittsburgh, with the move to the Bucs coming via waiver claim in early June.

11:37AM: Ronny Simon is likely to be placed on the 10-day injured list in the corresponding move for Devanney, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes.  Simon was removed from yesterday’s game due to a left shoulder injury after an awkward slide into home plate.  This means that Devanney could be used more in the outfield than in the infield, depending on what happens with Kiner-Falefa’s situation.

10:26AM: The Pirates are calling up infielder Cam Devanney from Triple-A Indianapolis, according to Jose Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports.  The corresponding 26-man roster move isn’t yet known, and Devanney is already on the Bucs’ 40-man roster.

Devanney will be making his Major League debut whenever he appears in a game, though this isn’t his first time in the Show.  The Royals selected his contract from Triple-A in July but didn’t use Devanney in a game during his week-long stint on the active roster, though some of that stint was taken up by the All-Star break.  Before the second half of the season could begin, Kansas City traded Devanney to Pittsburgh in the one-for-one swap that brought Adam Frazier back to the Royals.

The change of scenery has led to a downturn in Devanney’s offense, as his .256/.327/.361 slash line over 147 plate appearances with Indianapolis is well below the .272/.366/.565 slash he had with Triple-A Omaha this season prior to the trade.  While Devanney hasn’t exactly kicked down the door and forced a promotion, the Pirates may soon have a vacancy in the infield if Isiah Kiner-Falefa is claimed off outright waivers.  Rival teams will have to acquire IKF before September 1 to include him on a postseason roster, so Devanney’s call-up could be a hint that Pittsburgh is expecting a claim soon.

Devanney could perhaps replicate Kiner-Falefa in terms of versatility.  Devanney has played mostly shortstop during his career but has a lot of experience at second and third base, plus a handful of appearances as a first baseman and left fielder.  This season’s numbers in Omaha were the high point of a generally productive run in Triple-A for the infielder, who has slashed .264/.349/.469 with 53 homers over 1404 with the top affiliates of the Pirates, Royals, and Brewers.  A 15th-round pick for the Brew Crew in the 2019 draft, Devanney was dealt to the Royals as part of the 2023-24 offseason trade that sent Taylor Clarke from K.C. to Milwaukee.

Pirates Place Isiah Kiner-Falefa On Outright Waivers

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The Pirates have placed veteran infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa on outright waivers, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. He’ll be available to all 29 other clubs, with waiver priority determined based on the reverse order of the MLB-wide standings. (Outright waiver priority is not league-specific like the now-defunct revocable August trade waivers were.)

Because he has not been designated for assignment, Kiner-Falefa can continue to play while on waivers. If another team claims him, which seems plausible, he’d be postseason-eligible because he’d join that club before Sept. 1. (Waivers are a 48-hour process.) He’s being paid $7.5MM this season, with about $1.21MM of that sum yet to be paid out.

The Pirates do not have to assign him outright to a minor league affiliate if he goes unclaimed. They could do so if they choose, but Kiner-Falefa would have the right to then elect free agency and retain the remainder of his guaranteed money. They could also opt to simply release Kiner-Falefa if he goes unclaimed, as the Guardians did with veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, which would give him one more chance to jump into a playoff hunt between now and season’s end.

In 419 plate appearances, Kiner-Falefa is batting .268/.304/.337. It’s a light batting line (78 wRC+), but he’s gone 15-for-19 in stolen base attempts and played a respectable shortstop this season. Kiner-Falefa is a versatile defender with experience at short, second base, third base and all three outfield spots.

The Pirates somewhat surprisingly didn’t trade Kiner-Falefa at the deadline. Presumably, his middling offensive contributions didn’t garner strong interest. However, as teams gear up for the stretch run and look to deepen their benches, Kiner-Falefa’s brand of speed, contact (15.5% strikeout rate) and defensive versatility could hold appeal. He’s struggling quite a bit against lefties this year, despite being a right-handed bat, but he entered the season with more or less neutral platoon splits in his career.

For the Bucs, the waiver route presents an opportunity to trim some payroll and to afford a veteran player the opportunity to join a postseason chase in the season’s final month. By waiting until the end of the month to make the move, they made it as affordable as possible for teams with interest in claiming him. Kiner-Falefa’s contract does contain $250K bonuses for reaching 500 and 550 plate appearances, but he’s 81 shy of that mark right now thanks largely to a monthlong stay on the IL for a hamstring strain back in April/May.

If another club claims Kiner-Falefa, it’d open more at-bats for younger infield options. There’s no way the Bucs would call up 19-year-old Konnor Griffin, currently ranked as MLB’s top prospect, when he has just eight games above A-ball to his credit right now, but they could give some reps to former trade acquisitions like Nick Yorke or Cam Devanney in the season’s final month.

Pirates Release Andrew Heaney

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August 29: Heaney has officially been released, according to the MLB.com transaction tracker.

August 26: The Pirates announced Tuesday that veteran left-hander Andrew Heaney has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to center fielder Oneil Cruz, who has been reinstated from the injured list. Pittsburgh also optioned infielder Ronny Simon to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled right-handed reliever Dauri Moreta from Triple-A.

Heaney, who turned 34 in June, signed a one-year deal in the offseason, guaranteeing him $5.25MM. Early in the 2025 campaign, it looked like one of the best low-cost pickups of the winter by any team. The veteran southpaw raced out to a strong start, tossing 78 1/3 innings of 3.33 ERA ball in his first 14 trips to the bump. Heaney posted a sharp 7.5% walk rate in that time, and while a pedestrian 18.5% strikeout rate and somewhat elevated 1.26 HR/9 mark pointed to some degree of regression — he had a 4.47 FIP and 4.51 SIERA in that time — the reckoning was more emphatic than anyone could’ve reasonably anticipated.

A pair of consecutive seven-run drubbings in mid-June proved to be the beginning of a two-month spiral from which Heaney simply hasn’t been able to recover. Over his past 42 innings, he’s been trounced for 43 earned runs (9.21 ERA) with just a 12.1% strikeout rate. Opponents have averaged a staggering 2.79 home runs per nine innings pitched during that span.

The Pirates recently demoted Heaney to the bullpen, but the change in roles didn’t prove beneficial. He’s surrendered six runs in 1 1/3 innings across his two most recent relief outings, including five runs in just two-thirds of an inning last night.

Some onlookers might cynically liken Heaney’s DFA to the Pirates’ much-maligned 2024 decision to designate Rowdy Tellez for assignment when he was just four plate appearances shy of a $200K bonus. Given the prolonged nature of Heaney’s struggles, this looks to be a much different scenario. In fact, last night’s two-thirds of an inning proved to be just enough to push Heaney over 120 innings on the season (120 1/3 overall), which unlocked a $50K bonus.

Had the Pirates kept trotting him out there, Heaney could’ve unlocked further incentives. (He’d have taken home another $100K at 130 innings and $150K at 140 innings pitched.) However, based on his past two months, there’s no incentive for the team to keep giving him opportunities. Heaney had ample opportunity to pull himself out of the slump and wasn’t able to do so. In the end, he’ll wind up earning $5.3MM this contract, and the innings that would’ve gone to him will instead go to younger arms whom the Bucs can control beyond the current season.

Pittsburgh surely tried to find a trade partner prior to the deadline, but even then, Heaney was riding a streak of 28 runs surrendered in his past 28 2/3 innings. He’d been tagged for 15 home runs in his past 50 innings. It’s easy to imagine most teams seeking pitching felt they could get comparable or better results simply sticking in house.

With Heaney now off the 40-man roster, he’ll be placed on waivers. It’s largely irrelevant whether that’ll be outright waivers or release waivers, as it’s unlikely anyone will claim the remaining $932K on his contract after struggles of this magnitude, and he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while retaining the remainder of his guaranteed salary. Barring what would be a very surprising claim, he’ll be a free agent within the next few days. He could latch on with a new club as pitching depth for the final month of the season and could technically be postseason-eligible if he signs with a new team prior to Sept. 1 — though he’d obviously have to turn things around in a hurry to be considered for a spot on anyone’s October rosters.

MLBTR Podcast: A Conversation With Pirates GM Ben Cherington — Also The O’s, Zack Wheeler, And The Rangers

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Pirates general manager Ben Cherington to discuss…

  • What attracted Cherington to a smaller market like Pittsburgh (2:40)
  • Why have the Pirates been so much better at developing pitching than hitting? (5:10)
  • The choice of picking Paul Skenes first overall in 2023 (9:05)
  • The Pirates not having signed a free agent to a multi-year deal in many years (13:45)
  • Is there a sense of urgency for the Pirates to make something happen in the near future? (16:20)
  • The balance of subtracting pitching to add hitting (18:45)
  • What percentage of rumors that make it to the public are based in fact? (22:30)

Plus, Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Pirates Notes: Chandler, Infield, Rodriguez

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After months of anticipation, top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler’s debut didn’t disappoint — though it probably looked quite different than most fans had anticipated. Chandler tossed four shutout frames in relief of fellow well-regarded pitching prospect Braxton Ashcraft, earning a save in his first MLB appearance. Despite debuting in the ’pen, Chandler will be considered for rotation looks down the stretch, general manager Ben Cherington told reporters this weekend (video link via Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

“He could still make starts,” Cherington said of Chandler. “But pitching in the major leagues is important. We wanted him to get that experience, get that feedback, and start it early enough where there was enough innings where it was a real experience that could inform his offseason going into 2026.”

Cherington went on to note that starts won’t be guaranteed and that manager Don Kelly “will guide” the decision on Chandler’s role from appearance to appearance. There’s no scheduled start on the immediate horizon for Chandler, who’ll turn 23 in a few weeks. Pittsburgh has Johan Oviedo, Mitch Keller, Ashcraft, Mike Burrows and Paul Skenes lined up, respectively, for its next five games. Logically, it seems fair to expect that Chandler could again follow Ashcraft in a piggyback role Wednesday, as the two are on the same schedule.

However he’s deployed, Chandler should reach a new career-high in innings pitched. He tossed 119 2/3 frames last year and is up to 104 innings this season with a bit more than a month remaining on the regular-season calendar. He’ll very clearly be in the mix for a rotation spot in 2026, so even narrowly edging his season-long workload past that 2024 mark would be beneficial as he eyes a first full year of rotation work in the majors.

Chandler’s MLB readiness isn’t the only long-term question the Pirates are focused on in the season’s final few months. In a full column highlighting some of Cherington’s comments — readers are encouraged to check it out for greater context on this and several more Pirates issues — Beazley writes that Pittsburgh’s GM feels infielder Jared Triolo has begun to prove his ability to handle shortstop on at least a part-time basis in the majors.

Triolo, 27, has spent the bulk of his big league career between second base and third base, but the Bucs have given him 15 games at short since being recalled to the majors following the trade deadline. While Cherington stressed that this doesn’t mean Triolo will open next year at shortstop, the Bucs also wanted to gauge how much of an option he is there. Konnor Griffin, the No. 1 prospect in all of MLB according to both Baseball America and MLB.com, is seen as the long-term answer but is only 20 years old and was only recently promoted to Double-A, where he’s played just six games thus far.

Cherington suggested earlier in the month that the Bucs will pursue infield help in the offseason and doubled down on that thought in his latest media session. A short-term addition at shortstop would be sensible. Any work Triolo is doing now would certainly strengthen his candidacy for a bench role, however, and it’s worth noting that he’s doing more than instilling Pirates brass with some confidence in his glovework. Dating back to his Aug. 1 recall, Triolo is slashing .324/.418/.500 (158 wRC+) in 80 plate appearances.

A lot of that production is due to a bloated .400 average on balls in play that he won’t sustain, but Triolo is also chasing off the plate less, walking more often, and more frequently making contact on balls within the strike zone. It’s a small sample, but there are some positive strides being shown, and if Triolo can keep that up for another month to close out the season, it’d bode well for his chances of having a steady role in 2026. He’s still hitting just .213/.308/.343 overall, but he’s a strong defender at second and third with good speed. The pieces for a solid utility option are there, if the bat can rise to even slightly below-average levels.

The catching role, of course, has been a question in Pittsburgh for years now. Several attempts to bring in high-end young players to claim the spot long-term have yet to pan out. Endy Rodriguez’s recent elbow surgery — his second elbow surgery since Oct. 2023 — further calls into question his candidacy for eventually claiming that role. Cherginton said after his recent surgery, however, that the organization still views Rodriguez as a catcher (link via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com).

Cherington called the 25-year-old Rodriguez (26 next May) “a catcher who we believe can be good at the position defensively and hit left-handed” and touted the value of having both left- and right-handed-hitting options behind the dish. Rodriguez’s long-term defensive outlook is something the Bucs will again visit in the offseason as he continues to mend, the GM conceded, but the idea of Rodriguez as a catcher isn’t one that the Pirates “want to give up on easily,” per Cherington.

Rodriguez hasn’t hit at all in limited big league looks yet, slashing just .210/.276/.311 in 261 plate appearances dating back to his 2023 MLB debut. Rodriguez missed nearly all of the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery but had a monster 2022 season in the minors and hit decently in 2023’s Triple-A run before being called to the big leagues. He’s expected to be ready for next spring trainings but isn’t a lock to make next year’s roster.

Both Rodriguez and Triolo have one minor league option remaining after the current season, so next year’s camp won’t be a firm make-or-break for either player, but with both in their mid-20s and down to one option year, they’ll need to establish some staying power at some point within the next calendar year.

Pirates Claim Ryan Kreidler

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The Pirates have claimed infielder Ryan Kreidler off waivers from the Tigers, according to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates had an open spot on their 40-man roster for Kriedler, so no corresponding move was necessary. The club’s roster now stands at 40 players.

Kreidler, 27, was a fourth-round pick by the Tigers back in 2019. He made his big league debut during the 2022 campaign and has spent each of the past four seasons in an up-and-down role with the Tigers as a utility man. He’s gotten into just 89 total games at the big league level, but hasn’t shown much with the bat in that time. Across 211 MLB plate appearances, Kreidler has a lackluster .138/.208/.176 slash line with an ugly 31.8% strikeout rate. That’s a tough slash line to stomach from even a bench player at the big league level, though what he lacks in offensive ability he makes up for with versatility; Kreidler has split time between shortstop, center field, and third base throughout his time in the majors with brief cameos at second base and in left field as well.

He’s played those same positions in the minors over the years, and is generally regarded as a high-level defender at both shortstop and in center field. Still, that wasn’t enough to assure Kreidler of his 40-man roster spot with Detroit. The Tigers are in the midst of a banner year where a number of role players have stepped up to contribute to the team’s offense. Kreidler’s role as a versatile, quality defender who hits from the right side has been usurped by Javier Baez, who has enjoyed a rebound campaign after dealing with injuries and ineffectiveness during the majority of his time with the Tigers.

While still just an average to slightly below average hitter overall, Baez’s performance is a big step up over Kreidler, and now that he’s no longer the club’s everyday shortstop he can pitch in as a more versatile piece with reps at third base and in center field—a change that covers all of Kreidler’s usual positions. Even as Kreidler no longer has a clear role with the Tigers, however, he’s managed to find himself a role with the Pirates. Pittsburgh has had one of the weakest offenses in the sport for a few years now, so the club is no stranger to light-hitting players on the roster. Perhaps Kreidler will get the opportunity to compete with Liover Peguero or Ronny Simon for a bench job down the stretch, a role in which his elite glove and defensive versatility can shine a bit more.

There even could be some room for optimism with Kreidler’s bat if he can get some reps over the season’s final few weeks. In 84 games at Triple-A Toledo this year, Kreidler has slashed a perfectly respectable .251/.374/.410 with 25 doubles and 14 steals. Expecting that level of production from Kreidler would be unrealistic at this point, but if he can even bring his numbers into the 80-90 wRC+ range it would go a long way to establishing him as a viable glove-first bench piece.

Pirates Promote Bubba Chandler

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August 22: Pittsburgh officially selected Chandler’s contract. They already had two openings on the 40-man roster.

August 20: The Pirates are promoting top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler to the major leagues, according to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com adds that Chandler’s contract will be selected to the roster on Friday, while Hiles notes that Chandler will pitch in a long relief role.

It’s a long-awaited promotion for Chandler, who entered the season viewed as a consensus top-20 prospect in the sport and on the shortlist for the league’s very best pitching prospects. The 22-year-old hurler reached the Triple-A level last year and opened eyes with a brilliant 1.83 ERA in seven starts where he struck out 34.0% of batters faced, and that led many to speculate upon whether or not Chandler would be brought up to the majors early in the 2025 campaign or perhaps even join the club’s Opening Day rotation.

That’s not the route that Pittsburgh decided to take. Chandler has spent the entire 2025 campaign at Triple-A to this point and will now will only get promoted to the majors for the final weeks of the season. The right-hander did everything he could to force the issue early in the season, with a sterling 2.03 ERA and a 35.0% strikeout rate in 11 starts through the end of May. His call to the majors never came, however, and Chandler began to struggle as the summer began. Since June began, Chandler has struggled to a 5.96 ERA due in part to vanishing command. He’s struck out just 22.1% of his opponents during that time while walking a hefty 13.1%.

A .377 BABIP since the start of June is surely the culprit for at least some of those struggles, however, and it’s also possible that the challenge of a new level could help invigorate Chandler upon his arrival to the majors. After all, this is the same prospect who dominated Triple-A to the tune of a 1.94 ERA, 2.79 FIP, and 34.6% strikeout rate across his first 18 starts at the level. High as the right-hander’s upside clearly appears to be, however, his recent struggles can’t be ignored. Perhaps that’s why the Pirates will look to ease him into the majors with a bullpen role to start off his big league career.

It’s hardly an unprecedented path for even a potential star player to take. Chris Sale and, more recently, Garrett Crochet both spent years pitching out of the bullpen before moving into the rotation and becoming the ace-level arms we know today. That doesn’t appear to be the plan for Chandler, of course, as Stumpf writes that the Pirates view Chandler as a starter long-term and he could get starts at the big league level later this year. Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer served as a swing man for the Diamondbacks during his first year in the big leagues, while current rookies like Joey Cantillo, Brad Lord, and Ryan Gusto have also broken into the majors by starting out in a hybrid role between starting and relief work. That’s also true for a few of Chandler’s Pirates teammates like Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows.

Chandler’s impending ascension to the major leagues brings together Pittsburgh’s fleet of young starting pitchers. Led by likely NL Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes, the Pirates’ 2026 rotation figures to feature Ashcraft, Chandler, and Jared Jones as young, talented arms who have yet to reach arbitration. It’s a highly talented, exciting group of arms that should be a strong basis for a contending team, but if the 2025 season has been any indication the club will need to assemble a much better lineup than what they’ve put together this year if they hope to compete with the rest of the NL Central for a playoff spot.

Oneil Cruz is a toolsy player with star upside, and perhaps Bryan Reynolds will rebound from his down season in order to put up the solidly above-average numbers fans in Pittsburgh have grown to expect from him. Outside of that duo, however, there isn’t much to get excited about. While top prospect Konnor Griffin turned heads in the lower minors earlier this year, he’s only just made his debut at Double-A and isn’t especially likely to debut next year. If the team is to compete next year, the team will either need massive steps forward from under-performing young players like Spencer Horwitz, Henry Davis, and Nick Gonzales or they’ll need to make meaningful external additions to the lineup via either trade or free agency.

Strong performances from young arms like Chandler and Ashcraft down the stretch this year could go a long way to convincing Pittsburgh brass that now is the time to make a significant investment in short-term competitiveness. For now, however, the focus will simply be on getting Chandler acclimated to the majors in his first few weeks as a big league player. The Pirates have space on their 40-man roster already, so they’ll only need to make an active roster move in order to bring Chandler into the fold later this week.

Though Chandler struggled a bit in the summer, that’s surely not the only factor that went into the timing of this promotion. At this point in the schedule, it’s no longer possible for a player with no major league experience to accrue 45 days of service time before the season is done. That means a prospect promoted now will still be a rookie going into 2026, as long as his club limits him to fewer than 50 innings pitched or 130 at-bats.

That’s notable in this era of baseball, with the prospect promotion incentive. The PPI rules are designed to reward clubs who promote top prospects for an entire season, or enough of a season for the player to earn a full year of service time. As such, teams will often target these promotions so that the player will keep that rookie status going into the following season.

To qualify, a player needs to begin a season on two of the top 100 lists from Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and ESPN. As mentioned, Chandler is already a consensus top-20 prospect in the league. If the Pirates keep him under 50 innings this year and then put him on their 2026 Opening Day roster, he will be PPI eligible. He will then earn the Pirates an extra draft pick if he wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in Cy Young or MVP voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.

Since the Pirates aren’t competing here in 2025, they didn’t have much incentive to bring up Chandler in the summer, apart from starting the process of him getting acclimated to the big leagues. By waiting until now, they are giving Chandler less big league time in 2025 but will keep that potential extra draft pick in play for future seasons.

The Pirates aren’t the only club to follow this playbook. The Mets recently promoted Nolan McLean. The Orioles called up Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers. Surely, other top prospects will get the call in the coming days and weeks.

Pirates Release Ryan Borucki

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The Pirates released veteran reliever Ryan Borucki, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That was the expected outcome after Pittsburgh designated the southpaw for assignment on Friday. Borucki has more than five years of service time and had the right to refuse a minor league assignment, making the release a formality.

Assuming no team claims Borucki off release waivers, he’ll be a free agent. The Pirates will remain on the hook for the rest of his $1.15MM salary, while a signing team would pay him the prorated $760K league minimum rate if he gets an MLB opportunity. If he does sign somewhere, it’d likely come before the beginning of September. Players need to be in an organization by September 1 to be eligible for postseason play. They don’t need to be on the 40-man roster by that point, so Borucki would be playoff eligible even if he signs a minor league contract within the next two weeks.

The 31-year-old would be a long shot to make a postseason roster but should get attention from teams seeking left-handed relief depth. While he has struggled to a 5.28 earned run average through 30 2/3 innings, his underlying marks are a little more intriguing. Borucki has kept the ball on the ground at a huge 55% clip while posting slightly worse than average strikeout and walk marks.

Borucki recently returned from a six-week absence due to a lower back injury. He reeled off five straight scoreless outings upon coming off the IL, but he gave up three runs in an inning of work in Milwaukee last week. The Pirates designated him for assignment after that, calling up lefty Evan Sisk to take his spot in the bullpen. Sisk is a 28-year-old rookie reliever, so the ceiling isn’t exactly high, but the Pirates liked him enough to acquire him from Kansas City in the Bailey Falter deadline deal. It’s understandable they’d rather take a look at Sisk for the final six weeks of the season than continue pitching Borucki, who was headed for free agency at season’s end.

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