Hello, Andujar, goodbye, Chavis (and Allen)

With the lauded signing of Miguel Andujar, we all knew someone had to go.

Allen wasn’t really a surprise. Chavis—at least by Twitter standards—was.

Chavis was drafted in 2014 by Ben Cherington by the Red Sox out of Sweetwater (GA) High School. He made his debut with Boston in 2019, on the usual schedule of a high-school draftee. While his defensive skills were solid, his bat never caught up. If you look at Baseball-Reference, his lifetime BA seems respectable, .283, but that was artificially bolstered by his excellent showing in 2021 in the few games he played with the Pirates after coming here in the Austin Davis trade.

In his brief time with the Pirates, Chavis became a fan favorite because maybe he wasn’t great, but he hustled. He never took a batted ball for granted; he’d run to first base like he was getting chased by a clown with a bloody knife. He could also always be counted on for a good story, and his social media is entertaining. But, as we’re always reminded, this is a business. We wish him the best, and hope that he gets on with another team.

Allen was drafted the same year by the then-Cleveland Indians out of San Diego State University, where he was famously coached by Tony Gwynn. Like Chavis, he stumbled with his original team, and he went to the Padres in the Mike Clevinger trade. From there, he went to the Yankees, who DFA’d him, which is how Pittsburgh got him. He never caught a rhythm here, although he did smack a couple of timely homers. We wish you well, too, Greg, even when we accidentally mix you up with Anthony Alford.

And the Andujar era in Pittsburgh has already begun—he’ll DH tonight.

This is an ongoing story—look for more on Bucs Dugout.