The Pittsburgh Pirates made several 40-man roster moves to comply with the rule 5 declaration deadline. Here now is a rundown.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, like the 29 other MLB clubs, had until 8:00 PM EST to make any changes to their 40-man roster, to protect Rule 5 eligible players from being selected by other teams in the annual Rule 5 draft.
Here are the players that the Pirates have added, as well as a minor trade:
The Pirates have added the following 3 players to the 40-man roster:
Austin Meadows (OF)
Dario Agrazal (RHP)
Luis Escobar (RHP)In addition, the Pirates have traded Gift Ngoepe to the #BlueJays for a PTBNL or cash considerations.
There are now 38 players on the current roster.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) November 20, 2017
Austin Meadows‘ inclusion was a no-brainer. The Pirates’ number one position player had to be protected.
However, it is awfully surprising that only Dario Agrazal and Luis Escobar were the only Pittsburgh Pirates prospects added, especially as the team had ample space.
As Adam Berry pointed out, notable prospects in SP Tyler Eppler, RP Yeudy Garcia and INF Adrian Valerio — all among the Pirates’ top 30 prospects — were in danger of being selected. It will remain to be seen if that scenario comes to pass. The team is flush with pitching depth at the top rungs of the minors, and thus the disclusion of Eppler and Garcia may not be all that surprising upon further review.
Re-Gifting
The Pittsburgh Pirates also traded Gift Ngoepe to Pirates North the Blue Jays for a player to be named later as well as cash considerations.
Though surprising on first blush, Ngoepe’s ceiling as an MLB player seems to be a defensive-first reserve.
Pirates Breakdown will have more on the team’s 40-man decisions in the coming days.
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