Pirates Claim Jeremy Hefner, Brian Jeroloman
by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 18, 2011 3:09 PM EST
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PrintThe Pirates have claimed pitcher Jeremy Hefner from the Padres and catcher Brian Jeroloman from the Jays, the Bucs themselves report. Matt Pagnozzi is off the roster, which I'm sure will make many of you sad.
If Hefner lasts on the roster through Spring Training, which I doubt, it looks like he'll play a sort of Virgil Vasquez role, pitching at Indianapolis and serving as depth in case someone gets hurt. He'll be 26 next season and has unspectacular Class AAA numbers, and I can't find much praise for pitches other than his curveball, so, while he's a better use of roster space than Pagnozzi was, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Pirates try to sneak him through waivers at some point.
As for Jeroloman, I have no idea what that's about. Jeroloman will be 27 in May, and he posted a .631 OPS last season in Las Vegas, which isn't easy to do. I've actually written about him on Bucs Dugout before, as a cautionary tale for what might happen to Evan Chambers' career. Jeroloman drew spectacular numbers of walks in the low minors, but never really showed much actual hitting ability, and he has really struggled against pitchers who have some semblance of control. Unfortunately, most big-league pitchers do, so he's kind of screwed. I have no idea what his role in the big-leagues might be - bullpen catcher, and pinch-hitting specialist when some control-challenged pitcher like Enerio Del Rosario or Carlos Marmol is on the hill? I'm stumped. Pagnozzi was a bad hitter, but Jeroloman is almost as bad.
My guess is that the Pirates want these guys for minor-league depth and are about to try to sneak them off the roster and hope no one notices.
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I’m marking my Pirates jersey with a giant J for JeroloMan.
It’s a catcher! It’s a Rule Five pick! It’s Jeroloman!
I am going to practice the inability to pronounce the letter ‘N’.
Would love the ability to yell ‘Hefer’ in a public venue… I wonder how many self-conscious folks heads would turn.
I could feel his muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm. ~~ Mike Tyson
36 men on the 40 man now
I predicted 6 protected players in my entry for PP’s free prospect guide; two guys need outrighted or I’m hosed regardless. Yes, I am the most important thing in the world.
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
I wouldn’t rule out either of these guys being outrighted shortly.
by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 18, 2011 3:20 PM EST up reply actions
They can’t clear outright waivers to open up a slot by midnight tonight. They would have had to have been put on waivers Wednesday. They could be DFA, but then someone else could claim them. And why would you acquire someone to lose him on waivers 2 days later? Yeah, they could hope to sneak them through…but that’s outside the Pirates control.
I can see the Pirates DFA’ing them. Yes, subjecting them to waivers would be outside the Pirates’ control, but it’s something teams do sometimes – I believe the Jays did that with Wilfredo Ledezma last year.
by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 18, 2011 3:32 PM EST up reply actions
I agree with Charlie, but I don’t think the idea necessarily would be to waive them in time for setting the roster. There are still other candidates for that, mainly Paul and Ciriaco. I also wouldn’t be totally surprised to see them dfa Fryer.
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
I think the new guys stay on the roster.
If they are adding more than 4 guys…then someone has to come off the 40 man roster today. By the timing of the announcement, Hefner and Jeroloman cleared waivers today. Which means that waivers can’t even be requested on them until Monday, but they would have to be DFA today.
My guess would be that either or both of these two guys gets bumped off the roster right before the R5 draft, with their 40-man spots being used on one or two R5 picks. The roster finalization deadline is only the deadline for adding new people, not for removing them. You can drop someone five minutes before the draft, if you want.
I realize that, Vlad.
But if the Pirates add more than 4 guys, it’s today that we might need the roster slots, not in early December. Once we approach the Rule 5 draft, yeah, they are fair game.
Gotta be some non-tendered or other outright assignment announcements coming shortly. I’d find it extremely surprising if they only protect 4 guys for the Rule 5.
Me too
Though there were only 4 guys considered locks: Marte, Owens, Wilson and Mercer
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
I know, was just saying
My other two were Hague & Pribanic. Thought about adding Welker, but decided they’ll risk him.
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
Jeroloman was on the Blue Jays major league roster from August 23 through the end of the season and never got on the field. 0 innings defensively, 0 plate appearances. Pretty impressive.
Just what we need...
another backup catcher for Indy.
They seem to have developed the notion that they absolutely, positively have to have at least five catchers on the 40-man.
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
Between the big club & AAA...
….there’s Barajas, McKenry, Fryer, Pagnozzi, Jaramillo & Jeroloman now if I’m not mistaken.
Have to think Jaramillo’s done with the org after this, although they really don’t need 5 catchers either.
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
Langosch reporting...
Pagnozzi can become a minor league FA, the Pirates have made him an minor league offer.
Guess they have to put the finishing touches on how to best to...
…fuck over small market teams.
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
Small Markets . . .
Mwaahahaha!
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
by WTM on Nov 18, 2011 4:49 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
to give the guy some credit
he has always had a high OBP and from what im seeing on older blogs hes not a bad defender
he was also born in Suffern, NY
welcome to Suffern, PA
by white angus on Nov 18, 2011 4:39 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
White Sox protected only two. One of those, Deunte Heath, is a guy whom I liked, but I didn’t think that anyone else did, so that’s kind of a surprise to me.
They didn’t protect some guys whom I consider overrated, including John Danks’s brother Jordan, but they also left a few moderately interesting guys off the list.
Royals protect only one guy, Verdugo, whom they acquired earlier this offseason from the Giants. For a team with a pretty good farm system, they were right there among the worst R5 classes I looked at. My list from KC had three names on it: One who was added in-season, Verdugo, and Brandon Sisk (who’s going to be available).
Would not be surprised to see NH take Meadows if available
Hurdle likes that 2nd lefty in the bullpen and Meadows fits the Huntington pitcher profile.
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
Phillies protect four who deserve to be protected, but leave off a couple of interesting options. I bet Tyler Cloyd gets picked by somebody, for example.
Wouldn't mind see the Pirates grab Cloyd either
Know nothing about him, but his stats sure jumped out at me. He killed AA ball last year. Could be an interesting long-relief type. Would make me nervous keeping him on the 25 man though since he’s never pitched about AA
Jose Tabata is the truth
The following is a list of everything Darren McFadden is bad at: 1) Giving birth. End of list.
Astros add one, out of a grand total of two reasonable possibilities. Two and a half, if you count the guy who cleared waivers about a month ago.
Their MLB.com piece on the moves sounds surprised that there weren’t more, but the piece’s list of possibilities is almost nothing but terrible players. I mean, T.J. Steele? Who protects a guy like that?
Nats protect four, including the interesting but totally impractical Eury Perez. They leave off the most surprising omission of the day (so far): SP Brad Meyers.
What's his story?
looks like a lot of injuries and a right handed Rudy Owens like profile of good command, mediocre stuff. Is that pretty accurate?
Josh Smoker
seems at least as interesting as a Duke Welker, plus he’s left handed.
This is what the Nats get for handing out major league contracts to Purke, Rendon, Harper
It's a good year for older, rehabbing pitchers on the comeback trail.
In addition to Smoker, you’ve also got Nick Schmidt in SD, Jon Bachanov in Chicago, and Will Startup in Baltimore.
why cant Hefner stick around?
yeah, his AAA numbers werent good but not awful considering the league. Before that, his numbers, other than a few too many walks, were pretty good.
wouldnt we rather have him lurking in Indy instead of Burres???
Oh, definitely. But the Pirates didn’t use a roster spot on Burres until they had to, either.
by Charlie Wilmoth on Nov 18, 2011 5:09 PM EST up reply actions
Yes, but not by a lot. The red flag with Hefner is a K rate that dropped sharply in AA, then stayed down in AAA. If anything, the fact that his other #s mostly stayed good is kind of a bad sign, since it shows there was nothing especially wrong, just mediocre stuff. Real common pattern with guys who are destined to be AAA depth and nothing more.
You're entitled to your own opinions. You're not entitled to your own facts.
Interesting that it's past the end of the business day in Pittsburgh...
and nothing’s been announced. I guess whoever does the press release making the announcement is going to have a late supper tonight.
This...
wouldn’t make Mr Nutting very happy…
@jaysonst Jayson Stark
There have been lots of rumblings there will also be a tax on teams that spend too little on big-league payroll. Looking forward to details
This is like waiting on a pregnancy test
Just announce who was added already :)
Still have my fingers crossed that they protect the few fringe guys that I’m still pulling for.
It’s seems almost as if the Pirates are trying to make a trade before the midnight deadline. That’s the only earthly reason I could see not announcing the moves during the afternoon.
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