Canaan Smith-Njigba Returns to Pirates as Waiver Claim

BRADENTON, Fla. — Hopefully Canaan Smith-Njigba didn’t spend too much time house hunting in Seattle.

Hopefully he didn’t put his Pittsburgh residence up for sale, either.

The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed the outfielder from the Seattle Mariners after designating him for assignment on Jan. 31. Seattle had claimed him from the Pirates on Feb. 7 before DFA’ing him over the weekend to make room on their roster for right-handed pitcher Levi Stoudt.

Smith-Njigba’s Pirates’ tenure should be pretty easy to remember. The Pirates acquired him from the New York Yankees as part of a four-player return for right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon prior to the start of the 2021 season.

He made his big-league debut with the Pirates in 2022 and made the club’s opening day roster last season. In 2023, Smith-Njigba appeared in 15 games with the Pirates. The 24-year-old collected four hits in 32 at-bats (.125 batting average) and drove in five runs.

The bulk of his season was spent with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he batted .280/.366/.473 with 28 doubles, 15 home runs, 74 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 105 games.

To make room on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher JT Brubaker was placed on the 60-day injured list. Brubaker is recovering from last year’s Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected back until midseason.