OnlyBucs

Pirates designated OF Dustin Fowler for assignment.

Fowler saw quite a bit of action out of the gate this season with Pittsburgh, but he heads to the waiver wire having batted just .171/.239/.195 with one extra-base hit and 20 strikeouts in 46 plate appearances.



Apr 22, 2021, 11:23 AM ET

Fowler has been designated, and Todd Frazier is added to the roster. Kuhl to IL and Hartlieb added to bullpen.

There goes our CF platoon. ::)

Sending both Alford and Fowler away are very positive signs. Decisions were made on them before the first month was over because they quickly showed who they were as players and there was little hope of improvement. I hope this means we'll be seeing younger guys getting long opportunities. This is the season to do it, and there's no point in wasting time.

1B4D5B4F405A4A414C5B694E44484045074A290 wrote: Sending both Alford and Fowler away are very positive signs.  Decisions were made on them before the first month was over because they quickly showed who they were as players and there was little hope of improvement.  I hope this means we'll be seeing younger guys getting long opportunities.  This is the season to do it, and there's no point in wasting time.
I don't see the rule 5 guy from the A's as the stating CFer. Reynolds likely slides over there. Oliva is now out for 4 weeks with a left oblique strain. And Hayes had a setback. So I guess we'll see a lot of Evans in LF, Reynolds in CF and Todd Frazier or Gonzalez at 3B. And Newman has to be close to losing his job at SS which could lead to a left side of Gonzalez and T. Frazier.

Glad that Kuhl will be out of the rotation for now as well. I’d rather see Yajure get a few more starts after last night. As for Fowler and Alford both were terrible and deserved to get DFA. Slide Reynolds over to center and play Evans everyday in either right or left. Polanco’s time you gotta believe is running out as well. I like that Cherrington is proactive and not waiting around another month or to watch guys like Fowler and Alford continue to stink.

Good. The high winds throughout Western Pa. will now die down as both Fowler and Alford are swingers elsewhere.

Encouraging.



It's not even the end of April and the Pirate management has already determined that their two 'low cost' take-a-chance options for CF were not really options. Too bad for Oliva that he is ailing, but perhaps the new guy from Oakland will demonstrate that he belongs.



I am not sold on the new 'Frazier', but perhaps he can add some stability and power in the longer than anticipated absence of Hayes.



Pirates may not have spent much this past off-season, but it looks like they are going to burn through some funds in what is now going to be a revolving door of auditions at the major league level.



Lastly, while the $'s are really different, gotta hope that this means the team will move on from Polanco if he continues to be a drag on the on-field performance.

183538292E3F28686B5A0 wrote: Sending both Alford and Fowler away are very positive signs.  Decisions were made on them before the first month was over because they quickly showed who they were as players and there was little hope of improvement.  I hope this means we'll be seeing younger guys getting long opportunities.  This is the season to do it, and there's no point in wasting time.
I don't see the rule 5 guy from the A's as the stating CFer. Reynolds likely slides over there. Oliva is now out for 4 weeks with a left oblique strain. And Hayes had a setback. So I guess we'll see a lot of Evans in LF, Reynolds in CF and Todd Frazier or Gonzalez at 3B. And Newman has to be close to losing his job at SS which could lead to a left side of Gonzalez and T. Frazier. 


With Oliva now out for a month, and with Polanco crashing and burning, I think it offers a good opportunity to play Ka'ai in either left or center.  He's always been a hitter so I don't mind giving him a month to see if he can hit at this level, too.  Put Evans in RF everyday also and see if that can be a competitive outfield.  What could be the worst outcome, the Pirates draft first again next year?  It's not like we have a, um, plethora of outfielders. ::)

These moves suggest a possible shift in the team's thinking. If this was going to be just another year for evaluation, why the rush to jettison both parts of the CF platoon less than 3 weeks into the season? A lot can develop after 24 ABs for Alford or 41 ABs for Fowler and a team doing nothing but looking for players can afford to wait it out with slow starters. But maybe this better than expected start to the season gave them hope that the team might not be as far away from competitiveness as they thought and they're trying to win more games now instead of being patient with underperforming players.