Notes: Choi Deal; Roster Churn, Part 1; Minors Report; MLB News

The postseason begins:

Notes: 

• Stuff this week: League meetings opened on Monday; Thursday, November 10th was the deadline to tender eligible FAs and is when free agency begins. As may be imagined, CF Bryan Reynold's name has been bantered about during the get together. The Bucs are listening but are reportedly a tough sell as they consider B-Rey as part of the core going forward.
• Pittsburgh acquired 1B Ji-Man Choi from the Rays for 24-year-old Bradenton RHP Jack Hartman, whose progress was dampened by 2020 TJ surgery. Choi has played nearly 500 MLB games over seven  seasons for the Angels, Yankees, Brewers and Rays with a line of .239 BA/115 OPS+/61 HR/225 RBI. The 31-year-old has a considerable R/L split so the plan may be to find a platoon partner for Choi, perhaps a guy like Malcom Nunez or Matt Gorski. Choi, btw, will have bone fragments removed from his elbow later this month, a problem that began bothering him toward the end of last season.

Ji-man Choi - 2019 photo/Tampa Bay Times

• The Pirates claimed 23-year-old OF Ryan Vilade off waivers from the Rox.  A second round pick in 2017 (#48 overall), the cornerman hit .249 with five homers at Class AAA Albuquerque this year. He has two options left. 
• Speaking of 40-man roster moves: The Corsairs activated RHPs Colin Holderman, Yerry De Los Santos, Blake Cederlind and Max Kranick and OF Canaan Smith-Njigba from the 60-day IL back to the 40-man. To make room, Cederlind, RHPs Peter Solomon & Beau Sulser, LHP Eric Stout, and Cs Jason Delay & Zack Collins were outrighted to Indy; Stout and Collins declared for free agency. The Bucs 40-man roster is now full, but the real roster housecleaning comes on Tuesday, when eligible players are either protected on the 40-man or are exposed to the Rule 5 Draft.
• CF Bryan Reynolds was nominated for the 2022 All-MLB team. The winners (50% fan vote, 50% MLB panel ranking) will be announced on Monday, December 5th. Spoiler alert: 20 OFs were nominated.
• The Surprise Saguaros, Pittsburgh's Arizona Fall ball team, won the championship over the Glendale Desert Dogs, scoring twice in the 11th inning for a 7-6 victory. 2B Nick Gonzales had three hits, including a homer, and C Blake Sabol scored twice. 

Endy Rodriguez - 2021 Topps Inception

• Pirates organization minor league honors: C Endy Rodriguez (he played for three clubs in 2022) was chosen as the Honus Wagner Player of the Years while Indy's RHP Quinn Preister was named the Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year. Roving hitting coach Jonathan Prieto was chosen as the  Danny Murtaugh Coach-of-the-Year. Altoona OF Matt Gorski was named the Willie Stargell Slugger of the Year, Altoona LHP Tyler Samaniego was named the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year, 3B Jared Triolo (who was also the Curve Player of the Year) was named the Bill Mazeroski Defender of the Year and Bradenton IF Tsung-Che Cheng was named the Omar Moreno Baserunner of the Year. Greensboro UTIL Jacob Gonzalez and RHP Luis Ortiz took the Manny Sanguillen Teammates-of-the Year.
• C Endy Rodriguez was named the 2022 South Atlantic League MVP for his play at Greensboro; in 2021, he was the Southeast (nee Florida State) League MVP with Bradenton.
• CF Lolo Sanchez has re-signed with the Pirates as a minor-league FA. The 23-year-old been in the organization since 2016, playing at Altoona last year (.231).
• IF Cole Tucker has declared for free agency after hitting .237 for Arizona's AAA club, Reno. Three Phils pitchers with Pittsburgh vibes were also released and declared as FAs - James Marvel, Braedon Ogle and Mark Appel.