Pirates Sign Ali Snchez To Major League Dea

The Pirates announced that they have signed catcher to a major league deal. They also announced their claim of right-hander , which was previously reported. Their 40-man roster is now at 38. Snchez, 27 in January, spent 2023 with the Diamondbacks in a non-roster capacity, getting outrighted by that club Joe Dineen Jr. Jersey in January. He went on to have a solid season in Triple-A, getting into 67 games and hitting 11 home runs. He walked in 9.7% of his plate appearances while only striking out at a 15.7% clip. His .311/.375/.492 batting line in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League translated to a wRC+ of 108. The Bucs were evidently impre sed enough with that performance to add the backstop directly onto their 40-man roster. He already has some major league experience, though a miniscule sample of just seven games, five with the Mets in 2020 and then two with the Cardinals in 2021. He has generally been considered a glove-first catcher, so the nice showing at the plate in 2023 makes him a potentially interesting under-the-radar pickup for the Bucs. Snchez is out of options, so the Pirates will have to keep him on the active roster and wont be able to send him to the minors without first exposing him to waivers. The catching situation in Pittsburgh is somewhat in flux at the moment, with prospects and both having debuted in 2023. Neither of those two hit very much in their first big league action, but Rodrguez at least showed well defensively. Davis only caught two innings at the major league level, spending most of his time in right field. The club has maintained that they still think of him as a catcher going forward, but hes clearly a work in progre s. has played 127 games for the club over the past two years, mostly in a backup role, though he still has options. Perhaps one or two of these guys will get pushed to Triple-A as Snchez takes on a backup role at the big league level. If Snchez can stick on the roster, he can be a long-term piece for the club. He has le s than a year of service time and therefore still has six seasons of club control. Fred Pralle Jersey