Morning Rundown: Alika Williams DFA, PECOTA projections released, more breakout candidates
Pirates make roster move, PECOTA projections of NL Central released, tie-in article for Top 25 week
The free-agent signing of left-handed pitcher Tim Mayza was made official on Monday, meaning the team needed to make a corresponding roster move.
To make room, the Pirates designated Alika Williams for assignment. The team acquired Williams from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for right-handed pitcher Robert Stephenson.
A former first-round pick in 2020, Williams never found offensive success in the majors, hitting just .202/.257/.271 with a wRC+ of 44. Upon coming over in the trade, he made a slight swing change that allowed him to succeed in Triple-A, but it never translated.
Mayza, 33, signed a one-year contract worth $1,150,000 last week. This gives the Pirates three left-handed relievers on the 40-man roster—Caleb Ferguson and Joey Wentz the other two.
Baseball Prospectus released its PECOTA projections for the 2025 season, and the Pirates are projected to finish fourth in the NL Central.
CHC - 90.6-71.4
MIL - 80.2-81.8
StL - 78.6-83.6
PIT - 75.1-86.9
CIN - 73.5-88.5
After back-to-back 76-86 seasons, these projections don’t show any improvement in the upcoming year for the Pirates, in fact, they have an expected win mark slightly below that at 75.1.
To no one’s surprise, the Los Angeles Dodgers are currently projected to finish with the most wins (103).
We are two days into our Top-25 week, with us first looking at breakout candidates from inside and out, our initial list, which will drop on Friday.
Sunday, we looked at some names inside our Top 25, which can be read here:looked
Monday was three names outside our Top 25 list, which can also be read here:
Later today, WTM will have three players he is watching in 2025 that aren’t a part of our Top-25 list. Wednesday it will be NolaJeffy’s turn, with me wrapping this part up on Thursday.
Our Top-25 prospects in the Pirates system, with full-player writeups, will be released on Friday at 10 AM.
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D'backs re-sign Grichuk for 1/5.
Cherington still sleeping.
Cubs under 90
Brewers over 80
Cards under 79
Pirates over 75
Reds way over 73
Dodgers way, way over 103