Pirates & Red Sox
Submitted by: JHB
Pirates
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fitzgerald | 0 | Minors | SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Total Value:
0.1
Red Sox
| Name | Age | Level | P1 | P2 | Availability | Years | AFV | Salary | Surplus | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Kranick | 26 | Majors | LRP | Medium | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Value:
0
Comments
11
The Pirates have a 40-man roster squeeze and need to free a spot for Martin Perez. Kranick has bad MLB stats but intriguing Statcast peripherals. Ryan Fitzgerald offers the Pirates a guy who looks like he could hit in MLB who can play across the diamond anyplace but CF and C, and he'd be a great leader at AAA.
Sounds about right, sign Giolito, trade for Kranick (still returning from June ‘22 Tommy John surgery), might as well sign Paxton too….nothings changed in Boston
If the Pirates wanted Fitzgerald they could have had him for free in the Rule 5 draft. No reason to trade an MLB ready arm for him now.
Welcome to the community, nolegreg! This is a roster-size move. Fitzgerald would be held for emergency use after an injury in AAA and added to the 40-man roster then. When the need passed, he could be shipped back down--he has options. Had he been acquired via Rule 5, he would've encumbered the MLB roster all season. Kranick has no options left and the Pirates need his 40-man roster spot. Rather than releasing Kranick or some other player, the Pirates would get a similarly-valued guy for a different role in this trade, losing nothing.
If the Pirates (or any team) wanted Fitzgerald they would have taken him in the rule 5 minor league phase of the draft which Fitzgerald was eligible for. Players taken in the MiLB phase do not need to be added to the 40-Man or active roster and can be assigned to any level of their new team's Minor League system and do not need to be returned back if waived, they become free agents.
LOL! Great post! You and John Bitzer and I all missed something. An MLB team can protect 38 players on their AAA roster from the MiLB phase of the Rule 5 Draft, and there are 15 open spots. But the Red Sox chose to leave Ryan Fitzgerald unprotected to give him a better chance, and he WAS taken in the third round of the MiLB Rule 5 Draft by the Royals, who assigned him to Omaha. Betcha his hitting looks better playing home games in Omaha! But in any case, he should be listed with the Royals, not the Red Sox.
The relevant facts from MiLB dot com: "What about the Minor League Rule 5 Draft? While the Major League Rule 5 Draft captures the majority of the headlines, the draft also has a Minor League portion that allows teams to select minor league prospects from other teams and add them to their farm system. In the MiLB phase, any player who meets the same eligibility requirements of the MLB Rule 5 Draft who is not added to the organization's 38-man Triple-A roster can be selected by another team. Players taken in the MiLB phase do not need to be added to the 40-Man or active roster and can be assigned to any level of their new team's Minor League system."
Great catch. Fixed, thanks.
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Ms. D, Kranick is minimum-wage bullpen help with an xERA of 2.17 and a FIP of 3.31 since his return to MLB. That's a small sample size, but his AAA ERA in nine starts in 2023 was 2.76. The Pirates need the roster room and they need a guy like Fitzgerald in AAA. Kranick is out of options, but either he makes the team if he's good or he'd probably get through waivers back to AAA if he doesn't impress in Spring Training.
Yea, I know, I get all that…….Nothings changed in Boston