Pirates designate Chase d'Arnaud for assignment

The Pirates have designated infielder Chase d'Arnaud for assignment, Chris Cotillo reports. The move clears space on the roster for waiver claim Brent Morel.

It's pretty amazing that d'Arnaud lasted as long on the 40-man roster as he did, but I suppose that's what plus speed can do. D'Arnaud actually hasn't hit much since all the way back in 2009, his first full season in the minors, and heading into his age-27 season, he hadn't made progress at Triple-A, demonstrating little power and struggling even to hit for average. There's not much to do with a d'Arnaud-for-Morel swap but shrug, and of course Morel isn't a shortstop, but the Pirates appear to have upgraded here. Well, it's a fraction of an upgrade. A smidgen of a dab of an upgrade.