Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: For Pirates, Rule 5 Draft is 1st move in virtually normal offseason

The MLB winter meetings were virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic, so baseball’s biggest week of hot stove season felt like virtually any other week to Pirates general manager Ben Cherington.

The Pirates were relatively quiet until Thursday, when they were active in the Rule 5 Draft by adding a pair of young, high-upside right-handed pitchers in Jose Soriano and Luis Oviedo to their 26-man roster and some new talent to the minors.

Of course, there are rumors that the Pirates are talking trades involving anyone from Adam Frazier and Joe Musgrove to Josh Bell and Jameson Taillon that would shake up the major league lineup.

But those types of big-ticket trades might not happen until January, which is when the Pirates dealt Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen in 2018 and Starling Marte this year. They also waited until the start of spring training last February to sign center fielder Jarrod Dyson.

“It feels like the conversations are real,” Cherington said Thursday on a video conference call with reporters. “I’ve never been good about predicting when that turns into action. I guess it could at any time. I don’t know how much actually not being in the same place affects that.

“Taking the pandemic aside and the effects from that, we’re not physically in the same hotel, is there something psychologically different about that that affects behavior? I don’t know. It feels like a very normal week of an offseason, just not a normal week of winter meetings. I think we’ll see movement and activity happening. Your guess is as good as mine as when it picks up.”

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Pirates first baseman Josh Bell celebrates his two-run homer with Colin Moran against the Cubs Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020, at PNC Park.

1. Rules and roles: It would help if MLB gave teams guidance on whether rosters will remain expanded, the universal designated hitter returns and the season is set to start on time.

“We’re working under the assumption it’s 26, no DH and we’re in Bradenton in mid-February,” Cherington said. “If at some point we get information that any of that changes, then we’ll adjust. But that’s how we’re thinking about it.”

That’s also affecting a slow start to free agency. The DH could be a big factor for the Pirates, in particular, given that Bell and Colin Moran split duties at first base and DH and one would have to find somewhere else to play if pitchers return to the plate.

“Josh and Colin are both talented hitters and guys that we think can help us and guys we like,” Cherington said. “We’ll see where we are when we get to the season. If they’re both healthy and all set to go, and there is no DH, we’ll have to figure it out at that time.”

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

The Indians’ Carlos Santana celebrates his three-run homer during the sixth inning against the Pirates Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020, at PNC Park.

2. First things first: The Kansas City Royals showed that there’s a market for both Bell and Moran by signing free agent first baseman Carlos Santana to a two-year deal for $17.5 million.

Santana, 34, slashed .199/.349/.350 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs and an AL-best 47 walks last season with Cleveland. He has seven seasons with 20 or more home runs, including a pair with 34.

Bell and Moran are both much younger (28), and still have years of club control remaining. After hitting 37 homers with 116 RBIs in 2019, Bell batted .226 with eight homers and 22 RBIs last summer.

Moran, however, was on pace for a 31-homer season. He hit .247 with 10 homers and 23 RBIs.

Cherington said the Pirates are “happy” to have both, but sounded especially optimistic that Moran can continue to hit with power.

“I think there is a pretty real change going on,” Cherington said. “He’s always been a good hitter. Since the University of North Carolina and in high school, he’s been a good hitter. He’s always recognized pitches well, made good decisions, hit a lot of line drives, has always been a good hitter in that way. It was really just the power and the impact that he hadn’t quite gotten to, and he made a conscious change both in terms of his decision-making and pitches he’s going after and his actual swing, freeing himself up just to let it go — and got results.

“I don’t see a reason why that shouldn’t continue.”

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington watches the team work out on July 8, 2020, at PNC Park.

3. Three’s a crowd: The signing of Erik Gonzalez to a one-year deal for $1.225 million created competition at shortstop.

Once considered a non-tender candidate, Gonzalez is now the frontrunner to start at shortstop. But he will have to battle former first-round picks Kevin Newman and Cole Tucker for the job.

“The shortstop thing is just that we’ve got three guys that we think are all capable of earning a lot of playing time there next year,” Cherington said. “We also don’t feel like any of them just have a right to it, necessarily, so there’s an opportunity. We’re going to push all of them to win that or win as much of it as they can. We’ll see where we go. There’s enough flexibility there in different ways where, if one starts to earn more of that, then there’s other things that those other guys can do.”

All three also are capable of playing second base, but Cherington made that seem more complicated than believed by endorsing Frazier there. Frazier is a two-time Gold Glove finalist at second base, even though he played 14 games in left field last season.

“Adam Frazier’s a good player, and he’s done a really good job,” Cherington said. “We feel really good about him playing a lot of second base. He can move around, obviously, and that’s a benefit. But we like having Adam Frazier.”

That doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Pirates putting Newman or Tucker at second, playing Frazier in left and Bryan Reynolds in center, but it certainly doesn’t sound like it’s their plan.

"Look, Mom. No hands!" -- 2B Claudio Finol, probably.@DragonsBaseball @Reds

➡️https://t.co/o5NA28UrPS pic.twitter.com/WaL7Gc4jDn

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 3, 2019

4. Finol countdown: With a trio of shortstops in the majors and two of their top prospects at the position in the minors, the Pirates raised eyebrows by drafting middle infielder Claudio Finol in the second round of the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Finol was announced as a shortstop but also played second and third base in the Cincinnati Reds system. He’s only 20, is known for his speed and defense and hit for average in his first two professional seasons but hasn’t shown much power.

The Pirates, however, are expected to have shortstops Oneil Cruz at Triple-A and Liover Peguero at Double-A, with Radolfo Castro and Nick Gonzales at second base.

Where does Fino fit in?

“He was just a guy we were intrigued by,” Cherington said. “Again, obviously, the minor league phase, you’re looking at a different group of players. Intrigued by the contact ability, the athleticism and defensive tools and what we learned about the character and makeup was really good. Don’t know yet where he’ll slot in and what role it will be. We just saw some interesting ingredients to work with and seemingly a really good kid and good teammate.”

So I think you need to keep an eye out for #Angels prospect Jose Soriano...

Two-seam? followed by a curveball?? pic.twitter.com/IQ2QGV8bm0

— Jared Tims (@Jared_Tims) August 23, 2019

5. Quick pitch: The Rule 5 Draft is more of a crapshoot than a quick fix, so the Pirates took the long play by selecting Jose Soriano, 22, and trading cash to the New York Mets for Luis Oviedo, 21.

Cherington was aware of both pitchers, dating to their days in rookie ball and high-Class A, but Oviedo “doing well” while pitching in winter ball in Venezuela was helpful. And despite being listed at 6-foot-4, 170 pounds, he appears to be closer to 210.

“We’ve been able to watch those outings and get some data,” Cherington said. “It’s encouraging. This is a young guy who was probably one of the better prospects in short-season baseball in 2018 into the Midwest league in 2019. He fought some lower-back stuff, which we’re not concerned about in the long-term. It may have affected him a little bit last year. He seems to be fully past that and his stuff is back to where it was. He’s been pitching well against older players in Venezuela. He’s a guy (who) we feel could come in and compete for a job on our major league staff.”

Cherington said Oviedo will likely be in a bullpen role this season, perhaps as a multi-inning middle reliever, but projects as a starter. Soriano is considered a potential high-leverage reliever.

Both will be required to spend the season on the 26-man roster, though Soriano is still recovering from Tommy John surgery last February and will likely be moved to the 60-day injured list.

“We want to make sure we do that right with him,” Cherington said. “Typically, a return from Tommy John for a young pitcher like this can be 14, 15 or 16 months. Not putting any timeline on it, but that’s the first priority with him.”