PITTSBURGH PIRATES NEWS

ARBITRATION AND WAIVER CLAIM

The Pittsburgh Pirates have come to terms with their two arbitration eligible players and have also added a player off waivers.

The deadline to file for arbitration was at 1:00 this afternoon, but news slowly trickled out regarding the two remaining eligible players for the Pirates; Corey Dickerson and Keone Kela.  Dickerson is in his final year of arbitration and Kela is in his penultimate year.

After a season in which Dickerson hit .300/.330/.474 and put up his second consecutive .341 wOBA and 115 WRC+, the 2018 Gold Glove outfielder was projected to earn $8.4 million by MLB Trade Rumors.  According to Robert Murray of The Athletic, Dickerson and the Pirates agreed to an amount of $8.5 million.

Kela, who the Pirates acquired this past July, pitched to a 3.29 ERA, 2.97 FIP, and a 31.1 percent strikeout rate, his third consecutive season with a strikeout rate above 30 percent.  The 25-year-old reliever, who no longer serves as a closer, would certainly be harmed in the arbitration process with a lack of saves.  He was projected to earn $3.2 million by MLB Trade Rumors, and him and the Pirates settled for $3.175 million again according to Murray.

The other arbitration eligible player for the Pirates was Michael Feliz, who agreed to a deal a few weeks back for $850,000 if he is with Pittsburgh and $375,000 if in the minor leagues.  Feliz was projected at $900,000 so all three arbitration eligible players settled for about their projection.

The other roster move the Pirates made today was claiming Aaron Slegers off waivers from the Minnesota Twins and designating Dario Agrazal for assignment.  The 26-year-old Sleggers stands at 6’10” and 245 pounds, though he only averages around 90 miles per hour on the fastball.  Slegers pitched to a 3.80 ERA, 43.7 percent groundball rate, and a 16.3 percent strikeout rate in 85.3 innings for the Twins Triple-A team last year.  He tossed four games and 13.7 innings for the Twins last year and has a total of eight Major League games in his career.  Agrazal was added to the 40-man roster last season and he pitched to a 3.99 ERA, 49.6 percent groundball rate, and 14.6 percent strikeout rate in Double-A Altoona in 2018.