As the lists circulated and the speculation swirled, it's easy to picture Ben Cherington sifting through it all and laughing. Even the most conservative projections had the Pirates adding a half-dozen players to their 40-man roster by Friday’s deadline. Meanwhile, most had more considering 10 of the organization’s top 30 prospects were eligible for the Rule 5 draft and required protection.
In the end, it seems the Pirates are hedging their bets. They chose to only protect four players by adding them to the 40-man roster: shortstop Liover Peguero, as well as outfielders Travis Swaggerty, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Jack Suwinski. Those guys are ranked fifth, 16th, 27th and 29th by MLB Pipeline.
Those left unprotected among the top 30 are pitchers Tahnaj Thomas (No. 13), Omar Cruz (No. 26), Cody Bolton (No. 28) and Eddy Yean No. 30); first baseman Mason Martin (No. 17); and outfielder Cal Mitchell (No. 18).
"We’re balancing a lot of things," Cherington said. "How do we use those 40 spots to our advantage this offseason, into spring training and during the season? We have to keep in mind that there’s a major league roster to build starting in April. There are 26 spots right there. We try to do the best we can to balance all these things, and our selfish hope is always to keep as many good players as we possibly can.
"We feel really good about the progress that the four players we added have made."
Time will tell whether the Pirates made a smart decision, although it's important to first understand Rule 5 eligibility.
Players who signed at 18 or younger must be added to their club's 40-man roster within five years. For players who signed at 19 or older, it's four. Those who aren't on the 40 are eligible for the Rule 5 draft.
If a team takes someone in the Rule 5 draft — it costs $100,000 to make a selection — that player must stay on the major league roster for the entire season, or he must first be offered back to his old team, then he goes through waivers.
Given those constraints, and the trends in the Rule 5 draft, it's likely the Pirates believe the players they're leaving unprotected are unlikely to be snapped up by another club, and they very well may be right.
Thomas, the highest-ranked of the bunch, has an upper-90s fastball but pitched to a 5.19 ERA in 16 starts at High-A this past season. Cruz is a softer-tossing lefty who jumped from High-A to Class AA, while Bolton hasn't pitched since 2019, the result of no minor league season in 2020 and a medial meniscus tear in his right knee that kept him out this year. Yean is just 20 and had a 5.27 ERA at Low-A.
Mitchell, who ranked in the top 10 in Class AA Northeast League hitters in RBIs (61), hits (112) and batting average (.280) had a solid year but likely isn't ready to occupy an active roster spot full-time.
The most interesting case might be Martin, who led Pittsburgh's entire minor league system in home runs (25) and RBIs (81) this past season but struck out 171 times in 498 plate appearances. It’s also rare for a first baseman to go in the Rule 5 draft and stick with his acquiring organization.
Ji-Man Choi was the last to do it, back in 2015. He went from the Orioles to Angels, though Choi only played 54 games in the majors and bounced between first and the outfield. Mark Canha was a better example with the Athletics in 2014 after Oakland picked him up in Rule 5 trade, then used him for 124 games the next season, 75 of them at first.
"Sometimes there are good players taken in the Rule 5 draft," Cherington said. "But it’s not a real high volume of them. There are also a lot of players taken who don’t end up doing much, so you’re trying to find the needle in a haystack a little bit.”
Smith-Njigba, 22, hit .258 with 11 doubles, six home runs and 42 RBIs in 73 minor league games in 2021, split between (mostly) Class AA Altoona and Class AAA Indianapolis. Acquired as part of the Jameson Taillon trade, Smith-Njigba boasts a solid eye in the box and feel for hitting; he led all Curve hitters this past season (minimum 250 plate appearances) with a .398 on-base percentage.
“In Canaan’s case, he has a really interesting combination of skills,” Cherington said. “He has always gotten on base at a good rate. Sees pitches really well. Controls the strike zone. There’s a good athlete in there. He’s a big, strong kid. Really encouraged about some of the swing and approach adjustments he’s made.”
You’ve likely heard of Peguero, 20. He hit .270 this past for High-A Greensboro, with 19 doubles, two triples, 14 home runs, 45 RBIs, a .332 on-base percentage and a .444 slugging percentage in 90 games.
Picked up in the Starling Marte trade, Peguero is a consensus top-100 prospect in the game. There was little doubt he would be added.
Suwinski, who arrived in the Adam Frazier deal, might’ve been the biggest surprise. The 23-year-old hit .263 with 17 doubles, four triples, 19 home runs and 58 RBIs in 111 minor league games this past season.
He was fifth among all Class AA players in walk percentage (15.6), 12th in OBP (.383) and 16th in OPS (.868).
Cherington compared Suwinski to Smith-Njigba in that he can definitely get on base, has the ability to generate power and can defend his position.
Swaggerty, a first-round pick back in 2018, should be a household name by now, though he only played 12 games this past season due to shoulder surgery.
Cherington said that Swaggerty is once again swinging a bat and the Pirates feel good about where he’s at heading into spring training. In 185 minor league games since making his pro debut in 2018, Swaggerty, a South Alabama product, has hit .255 with 30 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs, 67 RBIs and 35 stolen bases.
“Although the sample not that big, going back to last year at the alternate site and then a little bit early this year, there was good progress being made, and he was doing that against upper-level pitching,” Cherington said of Swaggerty. “We're encouraged by that and encouraged by the physical recovery that we're seeing also."
As for Perez, the decision should've been fairly straightforward after he hit just .143 this past season was 7 for 76 (.092) over his final 25 games dating back to Aug. 3. Cherington said the Pirates have interest in potentially keeping Perez; however, there was also plenty of time to sort that out.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: November 19, 2021, 11:36 p.m.
Updated: November 20, 2021, 12:47 a.m.