The Pirates have a ton of decision-making with “fringe” players this offseason

9-4-24 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_EtHan on X

The 2024 season is not yet over, but with it being September, and with the Pittsburgh Pirates effectively out of a playoff spot at this point after a putrid August, questions begin to arise about how the roster will shake out heading into next season.

If you’ve listened to me discuss this lightly on Locked On Pirates, I have suggested the product you see on the field now will largely be the same next season, with the veteran additions outside of Andrew McCutchen all but gone and arguments to be made on Aroldis Chapman and Rowdy Tellez.

On top of that though, the Pirates have more talent on the way in 2025 in the form of prospects, which seems to be the backbone of every offseason and Spring Training, as it should be, and well, when you want to get those guys here in Pittsburgh, decisions have to be made on the roster elsewhere to make it all fit.

As much as professional baseball teams wish the 40-man roster was much, much bigger, it isn’t, it’s exactly what it says it is and performs the action it is intended to, to get guys that are contributing, or close to contributing, to the big league roster.

Those aforementioned decisions will of course come with players already on the roster, and although it may seem as simple as plugging “Player A” in and slotting “Player B” out, it just doesn’t work that way, there are a ton of factors that come into play, and for the “fringe” players on the Pirates 40-man roster, outlining what they’ve done to this point usually paints a clear picture as to their status heading into 2025, so let’s take a look at those players shall we?

Liover Peguero

I want to start here with Liover Peguero, because of all of these players, he arguably intrigues me the most.

If you read Gary’s weekly 5-Thoughts @ 5, you’d notice he discusses Peguero in that piece, and he had this to say about Peguero and his status right now.

At 23 years old, Peguero isn’t old, but he’s been on the 40-man for 3 years now, a player rarely gets a 4th without impacting MLB.

He’s had a rather pedestrian AAA season. -0.4 WAR on the season to be specific, but the thing is, he’s been in professional baseball long enough that he really should be dominating his level, not just existing.

I don’t think there’s much to learn about Jared Triolo right now, or Isiah Kiner-Falefa at this point, so if I’m the Pirates, I use this time to get Peguero up here, plop him at short, slide IKF to third and let the last month here guide me as to whether keeping Peggy on the 40-man is smart.

He is the next “qualified” SS in the pipeline, and again, if I’m them, I want to see it, and see it now.

Gary is spot on with this for a couple of reasons.

For starters, you rarely see a player on the 40-man roster this long without them making a considerable impact of some kind on the MLB roster. It may seem like ages ago, but Peguero was a large part of the strong second half the Pirates had in 2023, posting a .654 OPS in 198 at-bats with seven home runs and 26 RBIs.

Of course, those aren’t considerably good numbers by any stretch of the imagination, but at the least, they were intriguing, especially the pop we were seeing out of Peguero’s bat, but in 2024, he hasn’t been on the roster at all, taking a back seat to Oneil Cruz, Alika Williams, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo and later on Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Peguero is 23, so he still has his career all the way in front of him, and with where the Pirates stand currently, it is a wonder as to why the Pirates haven’t decided to get a strong look at him in the final month of the season, seeing as a decision has to be made on him eventually.

You’d expect that Nick Gonzales and Isiah Kiner-Falefa will man the middle infield again when 2025 arrives, but remember when I said plenty of factors come into play? Well, and just speculating here, what if Ke’Bryan Hayes can never seriously man the third base position for a full season with his back problems? What happens if IKF or Gonzales goes down with a lengthy injury?

These are questions you have to ask, and as mentioned before, I think it would be malpractice not to get at least a small sample size of what Peguero can do at the MLB level in 2024 before heading into Spring next season, and that’s if Peguero isn’t already gone by that point.

You’ll notice Peguero, unlike the rest of the players on this list, has just never gotten a real, lengthy shot outside of 2023, and for the Pirates, I’d want some hard statistical evidence before making a decision on a guy who is likely your closest option to having a shortstop with Oneil Cruz’s move to center field.

Watch how the Pirates handle Peguero closely this offseason. It could go a number of ways, he could be a trade piece to fill a void on the roster, or he could make his way here next year as a quality bench bat, potentially. Either way, he is about as intriguing as anyone in the “fringe” category.

Jared Triolo

Jared Triolo, 26, has gotten plenty of opportunities on the big league roster the past two seasons, mainly due to injuries to Ke’Bryan Hayes, and in 2023, on the surface, Triolo was staking himself as a pretty good two-way player.

His .786 OPS in 2023 came alongside just three home runs, so power will never truly be apart of Triolo’s game, although he has seven so far in 2024.

We know Triolo has the glove to play any infield position, especially third base, seeing as he was a Minor League Gold Glove award winner before his arrival to the MLB roster, and his defense will never be a question, its the offense that becomes a worry.

All of Triolo’s numbers have fallen considerably offensively in 2024, as evidence to his .206/.294/.305/.599 slash. I mentioned the home runs went up, but when you consider he’s had 321 at-bats in 2024 versus 181 in 2023, you’d expect that number to rise, even with the limited power potential.

I touched on the Hayes injury twice already, and that’s where Triolo is a tough decision to make as far as his standing on the roster. On one hand, he isn’t exactly the best option to have off the bench or as a third base replacement for Hayes offensively, but his defensive ability is undeniable, especially the versatility of said defense, but is the defense enough to keep Triolo on the roster?

Termarr Johnson isn’t far off from being a contributor to this team, especially around this time in 2025, while Liover Peguero will continue to knock on the doorstep and eventually Tsung-Che Cheng and Nick Yorke could be potential pieces as well.

Of those guys mentioned, Peguero and Cheng are already on the 40-man roster, while Johnson and Yorke will be eventually, with Yorke coming sooner, so at some point, the spots in the infield begin to shrink, and if the hitting doesn’t improve for Triolo, it’s hard to find a spot for him.

It may not be an immediate dismissal for Triolo, but it’s a situation to monitor for sure with what’s coming down the pipe soon.

Ji-Hwan Bae

When Oneil Cruz made the defensive move from shortstop to center field, I think it didn’t effect anybody more than Ji-Hwan Bae, and here’s why.

One, Bae isn’t good enough in the infield defensively, and even if he was, his bat hasn’t proven to be good enough at the MLB level to unseat Gonzales, IKF, Triolo, Hayes or any of the other players I mentioned already in the infield that are already on the 40-man.

Secondly, and I mentioned it like two lines ago, Bae just hasn’t hit here. In 2024, Bae has a .463 OPS in 74 at-bats. In 2023, in 334 at-bats, his OPS was a .607, and he was getting on-base, which of course made him more dangerous seeing as his best ability is his speed, but without getting on-base, he offers next to nothing in that department.

You then consider what happens in the outfield moving forward, and the Pirates will likely roll out Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and a platoon of Bryan De La Cruz and Jack Suwinski in right field. Add that Billy Cook will need to be added to the 40-man, as well as Nick Yorke, who can also play the outfield, and it becomes increasingly difficult to find a place for Bae to play.

Could Bae provide depth due to injury or pure need? Of course, but with the plethora of options coming up soon, the Pirates will have that elsewhere. Could Bae be a serviceable MLB player? I don’t know, but what I can confidently say is that another team may take a flier on him and see if they can ignite his play at the level that it matters.

Bae is sitting at 1.013 Service Time, so the clock continues to tick for him, and with his defense being a liability and his bat not proving to live up to its AAA potential, I just find it hard for the Pirates to find a roster spot for pinch-runner when they have speed, and well, better hitters elsewhere.

Alika Williams

Alika Williams, much like Jared Triolo, is intriguing, because his defense at the shortstop cannot be denied, but the bat is just never going to amount to anything substantial.

Williams currently has a .208/.238/.286/.524 slash in 2024 and his career OPS sits at .521, so the bat is by no means the best part of his game as mentioned before.

Williams could offer valuable defensive depth in the system if needed, but keeping that on the 40-man roster at this point wouldn’t make much sense in favor of guys like Cooke and Yorke who have potential and need to be added.

I’d say Williams is likely a roster casualty.

Connor Joe

I want to end with Connor Joe here.

Joe has a strong start to the 2024 campaign, taking over the first base position due to the early struggles of Rowdy Tellez, who eventually came along to become a solid option there, but Joe’s play eventually took a downward spiral, as evidence to his below-.200 batting averages in June and August.

Joe is a versatile defender, having the ability to slot into a corner outfield spot along with first base, something that is a commodity to teams nowadays.

On top of that, Joe is massively controllable, as he doesn’t reach ARB-4 until 2027 and free agency until 2028. Problem is, he is already 32 years old and may have his baseball behind him already.

Joe was signed on with the Pirates $2.125 million this season to avoid arbitration, and if he comes back in 2025, which in my opinion, he likely will, you’ll likely see the Pirates find common ground with a number in that range with Joe, but I don’t consider him safe either.

The Pirates will likely look to upgrade the first base position in some way in the offseason, which is it’s own battle to fight with what may be available, and with the addition of Bryan De La Cruz to the outfield, as well as Oneil Cruz, Joe’s spot become limited, and keeping a 33-year old with no defensive position on the roster can become a tough decision, especially when the offense isn’t where you’d like it to be, and if your name isn’t Andrew McCutchen.

More than likely, Connor Joe will be back in 2025, but I won’t 100-percent say he will be either.

The Others

Billy McKinney – McKinney is already 30 and hasn’t shown much to prove deserving of a long-term 40-man roster spot, and if favor of Nick Yorke and Billy Cook, I am taking the young upside.

Joshua Palacios – See Billy McKinney, expect Palacios is 29.

Jason Delay – With Endy Rodriguez returning next season and Henry Davis and Joey Bart manning the catching duties in 2025, Delay has continued to be buried in the minors. He could be back as catching depth, but he’s someone to watch as a 40-man roster casualty.

The free agents- 40-man spots will open once Yasmani Grandal, Michael A. Taylor, Rowdy Tellez, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew McCutchen hit free agency this winter. McCutchen will be back, and the jury is out as to what the Pirates think as far as bringing back Chapman and Tellez, but Grandal and Taylor are as good as gone, opening up two spots on the roster.