Pirates release Drew Maggi

The Pirates have released minor-league infielder Drew Maggi (and his brother Beau, who they'd recently added as catching depth). The Bucs drafted Maggi in the 15th round out of Arizona State in 2010, then signed him to a hefty $468,000 bonus that was fairly typical of the hard-to-sign late-rounders they selected at that time.

Maggi turned out to have almost no power, however, and was only okay in his first couple years in the minors despite good plate discipline. He eventually settled in as a good utility-type player at Altoona, posting a .382 OBP there last year, but at 25 and with no power to scare big-league pitchers, he wasn't likely to advance much further.

The Pirates' big-bonus late-rounders from 2010 (Maggi, Ryan Hafner, Jared Lakind) have mostly come up empty, although they still have Jameson Taillon, Brandon Cumpton, Nick Kingham, Casey Sadler, Mel Rojas and Stetson Allie to show for that draft.