Notes: Bucs Open; Key Signs Extension, Final Player Moves As Roster Is Set; Pirates News & Stuff; Ex-Bucs & MLB Snips

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Notes:

• A lotta firsts were posted for the Bucs on Saturday. Their 9-4 win over the Cards at Busch Stadium was their first win of the season. Diego Castillo had three hits in his first big league start. Miguel Yajure earned his first MLB win while Wil Crowe closed it out to claim his first save in the show. Michael Chavis cranked out three hits, including a grand slam (his career second, spoiling the first-time vibe) to get Pittsburgh rolling after dropping the first two games of the Opening Day set.
• Ke'Bryan Hayes signed an eight-year/$70M guaranteed extension + club option year, (2022-23, $10M; 2024-27, $7M; 2028-29, $8M; 2030, $12M club option; $6M buyout, via Jason Mackey, who broke the story). It's the largest contract in club history (previous high: six-years/$60M, Jason Kendall, 2000), and front loaded to be team friendly. The fan buzz wore off pretty quickly; Hayes left in the first inning of the Opener with wrist cramps and the Bucs were bombed by the Cards behind old nemesis Adam Wainwright, 9-0. 
• RHP Duane Underwood Jr. was placed on the 10-day IL with a sore hammy; RHP Roansy Contreras was called up from Indy. He'll go to the pen as the team looks to limit his innings this year. Contreras, btw, was the only healthy Pirates minor league pitcher on the 40-man roster. Pittsburgh has four guys (Underwood, Sam Howard, Max Kranick & Luis Oviedo) on the 10-day IL and two more (Blake Cederlind & Nick Mears) on the 60-day.
• Diego Castillo collected his first MLB hit Saturday, a double against the Cards. 

Diego Castillo - photo Pirates

• Opening Day roster: C Roberto Perez, 1B/DH Yoshi Tsutsugo & Daniel Vogelbach; 2B Hoy Park; SS Kevin Newman; 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes; LF Ben Gamel; CF Bryan Reynolds and RF Cole Tucker. The bench boys are Diego Castillo, Michael Chavis, Andrew Knapp, Jake Marisnick and Josh VanMeter. The staff consists of Anthony Banda, David Bendar, JT Brubaker*, Wil Crowe, Aaron Fletcher, Heath Hembree, Mitch Keller*, Dillon Peters, Jose Quintana*, Chris Stratton, Zack Thompson*, Duane Underwood Jr., Bryce Wilson* and Miguel Yajure. (* denotes starter)
• The Bucs went outside the org for depth, signing C Andrew Knapp and OF Jake Marisnick. Knapp's a 30-year-old who's spent the five years with Philly, where he posted a .214 career BA. Last year, he hit .152 and struck out 38% of the time while throwing out 2-of-22 base stealers. The Bucs claimed him after both the Phils and Reds had released him, inking him to a one-year/$800K+incentives contract as Roberto Perez’s back-up. 31-year-old Marisnick's signing finished the roster after injuries to Greg Allen and Anthony Alford; he's a good glove, weak bat (.228 lifetime BA in nine seasons) guy. He plays all three pasture spots and should fill the fourth outfielder role. He agreed to a one-year/$1.3M deal.  
• The final cuts: C's Taylor Davis, Michael Pérez & Jamie Ritchie (who was put on the MiLB 7-day IL), OF Bligh Madris, UT Hunter Owen, and RHP Jared Eickoff, who were all re-assigned to the minor league camp (Davis, Perez and Bligh were then assigned to AA Altoona). Four players were also placed on the 10-day IL - LHP Sam Howard, RHPs Max Kranick & Luis Oviedo and OF Anthony Alford. OF Greg Allen will also join the list for a longer run; he was placed on the 60 day IL. RHP Adonis Medina was DFA'ed and sold to the Mets to clear 40-man space for the new additions.
• LHP Jose Quintana will start the Home Opener on April 12th v the Cubs; it will be his first outing as a Pirate. The 4/12 game will start at 4:12. There's not much wiggle room for adjusting the rotation: the Pirates are scheduled to play 16 consecutive games from April 9th-25th.
• The Pirates posted a 7-7-4 record in spring training action this year, and led all MLB teams in home runs with 37.
• The Bucs decided on spiffing up the ballpark rather than the roster. They remembered the foodies in the upgrade, too.
• The minor league rosters:

• RHP Quinn Priester is on Altoona's 7-day IL with an oblique injury.
• RHP Richard Rodriguez was suspended 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone; we're supposin' that's why the rumored reunion with Ric Rod never took place.
• Detroit acquired OF Austin Meadows from Tampa Bay for IF Isaac Paredes and a competitive balance draft pick; Meadows was part of the much maligned 2018 Chris Archer deal.
• The White Sox traded for C Reese McGuire. A 2013 first round pick of the Pirates, he was part of the prospect package, along with OF Harold Ramirez, in the Toronto deal that unloaded LHP Frankie Liriano's contract in 2016 for RHP Drew Hutchison.
• LHP Miguel Del Pozo was DFA'ed by the Tigers. He had a cup of coffee with the 2020 Bucs, making five appearances while running up a 17.18 ERA.
• SS Jordy Mercer retired; he had a 10-year run, seven with Pittsburgh, where he posted a .256 BA. Also, The Toddfather, IF Todd Frazier, retired from baseball after 11 seasons. His last MLB gig was with the Pirates last year, when he got into 13 games before being released. 
• To honor Roberto this season, all eight active Roberto Clemente Award winners (Cutch, Nelson Cruz, Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols, Carlos Carrasco, Anthony Rizzo and Clayton Kershaw) will sport #21 on the back of their caps.
• MLB approved the use of a transmitter for catchers to signal pitchers in an effort to combat sign stealing. MLB said about half the teams have expressed an interest in the project.
• The trade deadline has been pushed back a bit to August 2nd.