Notes: Camp News, Signings, Cuts, Franchise Value, CBA Add-Ons

Camp stuff...

Notes:

• The Pirates had two guys up for arb in camp at the filing deadline, CF Bryan Reynolds and RHP Chris Stratton. Stratton agreed to a one-year/$2.7M contract after earning $1.1M in 2021 while B-Rey will take his case to an arb hearing; his ask was $4.9M; the counteroffer was $4.25M; a midpoint settlement would be fair. Reynolds is a Super Two player, which adds some extra pressure to the process. Ben Gamel ($1.8M) and Kevin Newman ($1.95M) were the other arb guys and had settled earlier. All 34 pre-arb players were signed shortly thereafter.
• Utilityman Hoy Park made it to camp this week; he had been having paperwork issues getting stateside from Korea. He made up for lost time in a hurry - his first at bat resulted in a homer.
• RHP Eric Hanhold is back with the Pirates as an NRI. He was recently DFA'd to clear a 40-man spot for RHP Adonis Medina in a shuffle of waiver pick ups.

Oneil Cruise - 2021 Bowman First

• Cole Tucker isn't the only SS playing some OF; add Oneil Cruz to the list. The move has generated a lot of hot takes, but the point to take home is that the Pirates have holes both at SS and corner OF, and the goal is to get Cruz on the field as soon as possible wherever he fits.
• Due to injury, RHPs Miguel Yajure (spine) and Max Kranick (right forearm tightness) have yet to appear in a game this spring. Neither injury is considered major, and both have begun to throw bullpens. RHP Mitch Keller gave the team a little scare in his first outing when a liner caught him in the leg. He was yanked, but didn't miss a start. He's jacked up his velocity to 97-98; now to attack the strike zone with some consistency... 
• Week one cuts: Pirates have optioned RHP Roansy Contrersa, OF Travis Swaggerty, Jack Suwinski, Canaan Smith-Njigba & Jared Oliva, SS Liover Peguero, and IFs Rudolfo Castro & Tucupita Marcano to Indy. Also moved: 1B Mason Martin, 2Bs Nick Gonzales & Ji-hwan Bae, C's Henry Davis & Carter Bins, OFs Matt Fraizer & Cal Mitchell, RHPs Kyle Nicolas, Carmen Mlodzinski, Quinn Priester, Tahnaj Thomas, Cody Bolton, Mike Burrows, Adrian Florencio, Yerry de Los Santos, Emmanuel Mejia & Hunter Stratton, LHP Blake Weiman, UT Endy Rodriguez and 3B Jared Triolo were sent to minor league camp for assignment. Swaggerty has shoulder stiffness (left, not right, last year's surgery target), which explains his absence from the early lineups. He can bat, but his throwing is still iffy. Camp is a little compressed this year due to the lockout, and the usual "get a look" phase is by the 2022 boards.

Ben Gamel - 2021 photo Joe Sargent/Getty

• Congrats to OF Ben Gamel - he played Tuesday, homered, and then jumped into his car to be with his wife Lauren as little Delilah Marie was born later that afternoon in Jacksonville.
• The Pirates released infielder Stephen Alemais, 26, 2016's 3rd round draft pick and a solid prospect who has been held back by injuries and a minor league logjam at middle infield. 
• Forbes’ annual estimate of the Pirates value, released Thursday, is $1.32 billion. That’s a 3% gain from a year ago, when the number came in at $1.285 billion and ranks 23rd in baseball.
• CF Starling Marte, late of the Bucs and now with the Mets, is out with an undetermined oblique injury, but is expected to be ready for the season. RHP Shane Baz, part of the ill-fated Chris Archer deal, burst on the scene at the end of last season, but will miss an undetermined amount of time (2-3 weeks w/o throwing) this year after a clean-out elbow 'scope.
• MLB.com's Mike Petriello sorted MLB into eight tiers of contention; the Pirates, of course, were in the bottom level, as "...this pitching staff may be the NL's weakest, making a fourth-straight last-place finish likely."
• Stuff in effect for 2022: 1) doubleheaders return to nine inning games; 2) the ghost runner for extra innings will continue, at least for one more season; 3) rosters will be set at 28 players through May 1st, to counter a short spring; and 4) pitchers who are also DH's can remain as DH if they're removed from the mound. Yep, it's known as the Shohei Ohtani rule.