Pirates claim pitcher from pitching rich Rockies

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Wed Oct 30, 2019 7:57 pm

The Pirates have claimed left-handed reliever Sam Howard off waivers from the Rockies, per an announcement from Colorado.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... sa01.shtml

SCBucco · Post by **SCBucco** » Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:00 pm

He will be one of those claims just to claim and be released in two weeks.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:04 pm

At least we know some of the baseball ops people are watching the waiver wire, and not just waiting to see if they are being retained, or let go.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:12 pm

040809525B525A57504F55620 wrote: At least we know some of the baseball ops people are watching the waiver wire, and not just waiting to see if they are being retained, or let go.
That's true. I also wonder if a waived player's agent might contact teams who are known to be pitching poor to try to find a landing spot for his client.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 6:19 am

I've wondered at times if the Pirates at least don't consider this sort of thing a chance to get a closer (and low-cost/no-cost) look at a pitcher, without any long-term commitment. He show something they like and they want to see if there's value there.

SyrBucco · Post by **SyrBucco** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:14 pm

At least he has an option. Wei-Chung Wang was the only other lefty reliever with a remaining option.

Another righty reliever will be DFA'ed soon. Add Geoff Hartlieb to my previous list.

SCBucco · Post by **SCBucco** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:23 pm

0F252E1E293F3F335C0 wrote: At least he has an option. Wei-Chung Wang was the only other lefty reliever with a remaining option.

Another righty reliever will be DFA'ed soon. Add Geoff Hartlieb to my previous list.

But is he a better option than you, or Possum, or me?

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Thu Oct 31, 2019 4:41 pm

0F252E1E293F3F335C0 wrote: At least he has an option. Wei-Chung Wang was the only other lefty reliever with a remaining option.

Another righty reliever will be DFA'ed soon. Add Geoff Hartlieb to my previous list.
I think they will hold onto Hartlieb. He had less than a full season in high-A, 1 full season at AA and less than a full season at AAA. He was fairly effective at each of those levels but was not ready for MLB when a slew of injuries forced his promotion. He had a lot of very bad games for the Pirates but showed flashes at times. But I don't believe anyone thought he was ready when they promoted him out of necessity. I'd like to see him get significantly more time in AAA to develop and then see what he's got. I don't want to see him get the development time he needs and then pitch well against the Pirates.