Pirates outright Gorkys Hernandez

The Pirates have outrighted outfielder Gorkys Hernandez, according to their transactions page (as I think John Dreker might have been the first to notice). As far as I know, Hernandez has the right to refuse the assignment; we'll see if he becomes a free agent. The move clears a spot on the Pirates' 40-man roster, which is interesting, since Joakim Soria is already on it, and it currently stands at 39. Maybe there's another trade in the works, or maybe not -- sometimes minor roster manipulations are merely minor roster manipulations, even in late July. Hernandez had been in the midst of a rehab assignment after missing time due to a sore shoulder, so the timing of the outright makes sense.

Hernandez collected five plate appearances for the Pirates this year in his first big-league action since 2012. He hit .273/.358/.402 for Indianapolis, not a great line, but not a bad one, considering that he's a good defensive outfielder. Hernandez's outright continues a purge for the Pirates, who have also recently removed Vance Worley, Brent Morel, Steve Lombardozzi, Jayson Aquino and Justin Sellers from their 40-man roster.