Morning Rundown: Aroldis Chapman deal official, Canaan Smith-Njigba DFA, Pirates sign Wily Peralta
On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates finalized the one-year deal with left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman.
Chapman, 35, split last year with the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers, posting a 6-5 record with six saves while putting up a 3.09 ERA with a 41.4% strikeout rate over 58.1 innings pitched.
The deal is worth $10.5 million.
He will join a bullpen that continues two-time All-Star David Bednar and younger options in Carmen Mlodzinski, Dauri Moreta, and Colin Holderman.
To make room for Chapman on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated Canaan Smith-Njigba for assignment.
Part of the Jameson Taillon trade, Smith-Njigba made his major league debut in 2022 but played in only three games until getting hurt and missing the rest of the season.
He made the Pirates out of camp after a really good spring but struggled while playing sporadically.
In 44 plate appearances in the majors, CSN batted .135/.250/.243 with a wRC+ of 38. He showed some interesting raw power in the minor but couldn’t translate it at the next level.
The Pirates signed free-agent pitcher Wily Peralta to a minor-league deal with an invite to major-league camp.
Peralta, 34, has a career 56-61 record in the big leagues, also saving 16 games and posting a 4.29 ERA across 911.1 innings pitched.
In 2014, he won 17 games with the Milwaukee Brewers, posting a 3.53 ERA across 198.2 innings pitched. He hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022, when he pitched out of the bullpen. The last time he worked primarily as a starter was 2021 with the Detroit Tigers.
Statcast says he throws a fastball, sinker, slider, and splitter; the latter two have been rated as his best on Baseball Savant.
Pirates released minor league pitchers Keneth Quintanilla, Jorge Ramos and Eliecer Romero. No real surprises here, though all three pitched well at the lower levels
Again, in a vacuum, I don't dislike the Chapman signing overall. But as time passes, it's appearing more and more that it was made as a "See, we spent money this off-season like we said we would. Shopping in a 'different aisle' of the store."