Weekly Report: RIP Dave Giusti, International Signings, More NRI's, Honors & Notes, Camp Opens 2/11, Ol' Bucs Find New Homes

Still work to do....

Pirates Stuff:

• Ol' Bucco reliever Dave Giusti passed away at the age of 86. Danny Murtaugh converted the palmballer from a starter to the pen in 1970 and it paid off big time - in 1971, he was named TSN's reliever of the Year when he helped take home a World Series crown (seven post-season outings - 10-2/3 IP, zero runs, four hits, three saves) after leading the majors with 31 saves during the regular season. Dave spent seven of his 15 big league seasons twirling for the Pirates (47-28-133/2.94; he's third in saves for the Bucs) and lived in Mount Lebanon when his pitching days ended. 

Dave Giusti - 1971 Arco

• The Pirates traded DFA'ed RH reliever Chase Shugart to the Phillies for 18-year-old 3B prospect Francisco Loreto.
• Pittsburgh signed 16-year-old shortstop Wilton Guerrero Jr., #17 on MLB.com's Top 50 International Prospects list, for $1.95M. If the name sounds familiar, it's because he's the son of utility guy Wilton Sr., who spent eight seasons in the big leagues with four different clubs, featuring a strong run with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos and Cincinnati Reds from 1997-2001. Junior is also the nephew of Hall of Famer Vlad Sr. and cousin of All-Star Vlad Jr. They also inked the #7 player on the list for half the price when they reached agreement with the hit-with-power OF prospect Jeancer Custodio, 17, for $900K; both are from the Dominican Republic. MLB Pipeline's Jesse Borek took a look at some of the Pirates top international signings while Austin Bechtold of Bucs Dugout has put together a list of the Bucs '26 international class.
• OF/1B Edward Florentino was selected as the top corner outfield prospect by Baseball America. The 19-year-old lefty was signed from the international ranks in 2024 and hit .290 with 10 HR for Class A Bradenton last year. He's in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 (#81) and ranked among the Bucs Top Five prospects.
• The Pirates announced their NRI camp gang to date: SS Konnor Griffin, 2B Termarr Johnson, IF Duce Gorson, C Omar Alfonzo, C Shawn Ross, RHP Noah Davis and RHP Chris Devenski.
• The Bucs had two guys land in MLB Pipeline's 2026 Top 10 RHP Prospects: #2 Bubba Chandler, who went 4-1/4.02 in a seven-game look last year, and #5 Seth Hernandez, who has yet to throw a pro pitch.

Esmerlyn Valdez - 2025 MLB Pipeline

• A guy who may not be on your radar but may be part of the Pirates future, OF/1B Esmerlyn Valdez, 21, announced he'll be at Pirates Fest. He was added to the 40-man this year after hitting .286 w/26 HRs between A+/AA ball last year and went on a rampage in Arizona, hitting .386 w/8 HR and 27 RBI in 19 games to earn the Arizona Fall League Offensive Player of the Year honor. 
• A storyline you may want to watch: Carmen Mlodzinski, who the Bucs converted to the pen, wants to return to a starting role and has been stretching out during the offseason to try to reclaim that role per MLB's Alex Stumpf.
• Spring is officially in the air!...the first workout for Pirates pitchers and catchers is Wednesday, Feb. 11 with the first full squad workout on Monday, Feb. 16. They're bringing in the WBC players early for their rust removal - 2/9 for Ps & Cs, 2/12 for the non-battery World players. Paul Skenes is playing for the US; ex-Bucs David Bednar, Clay Holmes and Bethel Park's Mason Miller are also on the staff.
• Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin had a pretty whirlwind 2025; 2026 is off to an equally momentous start as Konnor married his high school sweetie Denby Hogan in Mississippi last weekend.

MLB Stuff:

• The Mets claimed SS Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Rays who had claimed him from the Pirates in December.
• OF Marco Luciano, 24, has had a busy off season - the Bucs claimed him from the Giants in early December, then the O's picked him up a month later after he was DFA'ed following the Brandon Lowe trade and the Birds DFA'ed him after they claimed P Jose Saurez. Luciano was once a BA Top 15 Prospect...
• The White Sox have agreed to a minor league deal/spring invite with LHP Ryan Borucki. Ryan spent 2023-25 with the Bucs, getting into 87 games and posting a 5-3/4.17 line. He put up strong numbers in '23, but was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in '24 and hasn't shown the same stuff since.

Ryan Borucki - 2025 Pirates

• Nick Solak, who was hot with the stick at Indy last year as an insurance-policy type utility guy but only got into four games with the Bucs (1-for-11), has signed with the San Diego Padres.
• The Mets signed ex-Buc prospect LHP Trey McGough to a rare two-year minor league deal. After a breakout 2024 campaign, he retired last May after a brutal AAA outing; apparently he's finally gotten over it.
• The Toronto Blue Jays released IF Rodolfo Castro, who they had recently claimed from Philly, so that he can join the NPB’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Rudy was with the Bucs from 2021-23, batting .219 w/22 HRs in 180 games, mostly at 2B but with plenty of time at SS and 3B, too. 
• RHP Ovaldo Bido has been on the move. The 30-year-old debuted with the Bucs in '23, spent the following two years with the As, was claimed and DFA'ed by the Tampa Bay Rays in the off season, and now is with Miami.
• OF Jared Oliva, who got his taste of MLB in 2020-21 as a Bucco, has signed a minor-league deal with the Giants. It's his fourth organization since leaving Pittsburgh to go with Dominican and Mexican stints.
• Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood, who never found his groove in Pittsburgh (1964-65), passed away. He was shipped to the White Sox, where he found greener pastures. The Sox used him in the pen before converting him to starter (12 years - 163 wins, 57 saves, 3.18 ERA) and teased out the talent that Pittsburgh couldn't unlock.