Pirates make flurry of roster moves to begin offseason

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a plethora of roster moves on Thursday to officially begin the 2023 offseason in preparation for next year.

Pittsburgh announced the team traded right-handed pitcher Cody Bolton to the Seattle Mariners for cash considerations. Multiple other players were placed on waivers and claimed by other teams.

Infielder Vinny Capra, who spend the majority of play in Triple-A, was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cleveland Guardians added first baseman/outfielder Alfonso Rivas on the waiver wire.

The most notable name claimed by one of the 29 other teams was utilityman Tucapita Marcano, who was claimed by the Padres. Marcano was traded by San Diego to Pittsburgh before the 2021 trading deadline in a package for second baseman Adam Frazier.

The 24-year-old lefty batter hit .233 with three home runs and 18 RBI with the Pirates in 75 games and suffered a right knee injury in late July that held him out the remainder of action.

A former 6th-round pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, Bolton made his Major League debut this season after years of injury problems in the minors. He pitched to the tune of a 6.33 ERA and 2.11 WHIP in 16 relief appearances with 22 punch-outs in 21.1 innings.

General Manager Ben Cherington knew of Capra from his time in Toronto as a 20th-round pick in 2018. He only managed 18 at-bats in the bigs with the Bucs. Capra hit .289 in 2018 at-bats in Indianapolis and was viewed as a depth infielder.

Rivas was added from San Diego as the Bucs and Friars continued to rotate players between the east coast and the west coast. The lefty-hitting first baseman smacked three homers and drove in 14 RBI through 40 games with a .234/.305/.426 slash line.

Pirates writer Alex Stumpf reported Thursday utilityman Miguel Andujar and left-handed reliever Angel Perdomo are also on waivers. The Pirates currently have 37 players on the 40-man roster.