The Pirates have released pitcher Josh Stinson, Matt Eddy writes. Stinson will play with the KIA Tigers in Korea, who will pay him $500,000.
When the Bucs signed Stinson in October, I described him as a good get by minor league contract standards -- he's fairly young, he's capable of starting, and he throws reasonably hard. Still, he wouldn't have had a role with the 2015 Pirates unless there were a bunch of injuries. Signing in Korea allows him to make a significant amount of money, so the Bucs surely released him as a courtesy.
Of course, Stinson is 26 -- you often see players make decisions like this when they're a bit older, like 30, and they realize their chances of having a big-league career at some point are fairly slim. You'd think Stinson, who has appeared in the big leagues each of the last four seasons, might have wanted to take another shot at the majors before going overseas. Not that I'm questioning the wisdom of taking half a million dollars.