Pirates Transactions
Report: Pirates to Sign Veteran OF Jake Marisnick
The Pirates were down a pair of outfielders when Anthony Alford landed on the 10-day injured list and Greg Allen will either be joining him or is headed to the 60-day IL. Now, they’ve added one as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting the Bucs are signing Jake Marisnick. He became a free agent after spending spring with the Texas Rangers. Terms of the agreement are not yet known.
Marisnick is a nine-year Major League veteran who has worn the jerseys of the Astros, Marlins, Mets, Cubs and Padres. He was on the Astros 2017 World Series championship team. Known for his strong defensive abilities, the recently turned 31-year-old has amassed 75 defensive runs saved for his career — 52 as a centerfielder, 14 in left field and 9 in right.
On the other side of the ball, the 2009 third-round draft pick has excellent speed, finding himself in the 90th percentile of sprint speed a year ago. He owns a career slash line of .228/.282/.384 with 61 homers and 77 stolen bases across 2,082 plate appearances. He has a career fWAR of 6.0.
Marisnick will add a right-handed bat to a mix of position players that features quite a few lefties, and he can play any of the three outfield spots when needed. General manager Ben Cherington said that he was leaning towards a 14 position player/14 pitcher split of the 28-man roster, so it might be safe to assume Marisnick will be on the big league roster.
It’s the second signing for the Pirates in as many days as the team agreed to a deal with catcher Andrew Knapp on Tuesday. If it is a Major League deal for Marisnick, a corresponding move will be needed to get him a place on the 40-man roster.