Morning Rundown: Pirates claim Roddery Munoz, sign Ali Sanchez
Ahead of the Winter Meetings, the Pirates make a couple of moves to add to their roster
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced a couple of additions to their roster on Friday, adding a pair of players from outside the organization.
Roddery Munoz was claimed off of waivers from the Washington Nationals. The 23-year-old Munoz began his career in the Atlanta Braves organization but was designated for assignment and eventually claimed by the Nationals last year.
While pitching out of the bullpen with the Braves at Triple-A Gwinnett, 10 of his 12 appearances for Rochester after getting claimed was as a starter.
Going into the 2023 season, he was the Braves eighth-ranked prospect on Fangraphs.
Between the Braves and Nationals systems, Munoz posted a 4-6 with a 5.42 ERA across 78 innings pitched. Walks have been an issue for him throughout his career, and he posted a 15.1 BB% in 2023.
They also signed catcher Ali Sanchez to a one-year contract. He spent last year in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization and put up one of his better offensive seasons in the Pacific Coast League.
In 67 games with the Reno Aces, Sanchez slashed .311/.375/.492 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI.
He’s also thrown out 44% of attempted base stealers in his minor league career.
As far as major league experience, he has all of 14 plate appearances between the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets.
He’s also out of options, so he would have to win the backup spot against Jason Delay or go on waivers to be sent to the minors.
The Pirates have been mostly quiet this offseason and have finally come up with a few transactions leading into the Winter Meetings.
I’ll go into both pickups in a little more depth later today and then probably do a breakdown of Munoz once I can get some video together.
Every Monday during the offseason, we will be doing a mailbag article. You can send your questions to bucsondeckqa@gmail.com or leave a comment with ‘mailbag’ written in it. The email would be easier to track, but you can comment, and I will add it to the list.
The signing of Ali Sanchez is strange to say the least. He and Endy probably know one another from their days with the Mets, and he has a rep as being a strong defensive Catcher, but we already have a strong defensive backup Catcher in Jason Delay. Delay is one of those "we developed him from draft day to playing in MLB" types, where he achieved a 1.1 fWAR in 2023 which was primarily due to his defense, and he knows all of the pitchers. He is still about 80 days from reaching a full year of MLB Service, so he will still be paid minimum.
So, do the Pirates have a trade offer in play that somehow would involve Jason Delay?
Signing Ali Sanchez to a major league deal is most perplexing. Spring Training depth, competition with Delay or insurance in case of a trade doesn't require a major league deal. Cherington's infatuation with certain players is an odd way to build a roster.