Notes: 40-Man Set; Tanner Traded; Hot Stove Ember; Draft #; HoF; Holiday Giving; Ol' Bucs Shuffle

An appetizer before the turkey is front and center...

• A hot stove spark: Jason Rollison of Bucs Dugout reports that the Bucs have been sniffing around FA OF'er Lonnie Chisenhall, a good stick with an injury history. He's played just 111 games in the past two years for the Tribe with a recurring calf injury, albeit with a .297 BA and 127 OPS+. The Pirates drafted him out of high school in 2006; he went to college instead and it paid off as he was the #1 pick of Cleveland two years later. Jason considers him a "...perfect fit on a short-term low $ deal to rebuild value after two injury-plagued seasons." So we'll see... He adds that Brandon Guyer is also in shake-the-box mode. In seven years with Tampa Bay and the Tribe, he's hit .250 with a 100 OPS+, making him perfectly average.

Tanner is off to the coast (photo via ESPN)

• The Oakland A’s picked up RHP Tanner Anderson from the Bucs for a PTBNL or cash. Tanner, 26, went 1-0/6.35 for the Pirates in 11-1/3 IP and cleared out an extra 40-man roster spot. The club needed it as they chose RHP's Mitch Keller & JT Brubaker, SS Cole Tucker, and OF Jason Martin as protected players. The first three were pretty much shoo-ins; Martin was iffy but a strong second half at Indy may have tilted the scales. The three players left on the outside looking in : C Christian Kelley, LHP Brandon Waddell and RHP Tyler Eppler; the other prospects are long shots to draw interest. 
• Josh Harrison may be on the way out, but he and wife Brittney are leaving something behind. Actually, quite a lot - they donated their Pittsburgh crib's furnishings to the Light of Life shelter.
• The Bucs will have five of the Top 100 picks in this year's amateur draft. John Dreker of Pirates Prospects has the details.
• The Pirates have reportedly hired Jacob Cruz, the Cubs minor league hitting coordinator, as the assistant hitting coach. He was the D-Back's hitting coach through the levels before joining Chicago. He got at-bats over nine MLB years with five different teams, and put in time playing in Japan and Mexico before coaching. Now if he can bring Baez, Bryant and Rizzo with him...
• The HoF ballots are out. The only two Pittsburgh connections who are up for a vote are OF's Jason Bay and Barry Bonds.
• Over the weekend, a group of Pirates that included Fran Cervelli, Chris Archer and now-front-office guy Mike Gonzalez were joined by ex-Bucco OF'er Danny Ortiz, Red Sox Ramon Vazquez and the Royals Jorge Lopez on a visit to Cayey, Puerto Rico. They had clinics for the kids, left some loot for a youth complex and handed out Thanksgiving turkeys, with the purpose to show that the Pirates and Puerto Rico are something special together.

Hey hey Cayay (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• Utility guy Chris Bostick, who the Bucs lost to the Marlins last year, was signed to a minor league deal by the Orioles.
• RHP Colten Brewer, 26, who the Pirates gave up in the 2016 Rule 5 draft, was traded to the BoSox by the SD Padres. 
• RHP Trey Supak, 22, who was sent to the Brew Crew in 2015 along with Keon Broxton for Jason Rogers, was placed on Milwaukee's 40-man roster. 
• LHP Taylor Hearn was added to Texas roster; he was part of the Keone Kela trade. RHP Edinson Volquez, who sat out 2018 after TJ surgery, was also protected by the Rangers. He had signed a minor-league deal with them while he recovered last season.