NEW YORK -- On the surface, it's the most minor of minor moves, the Pirates claiming right-handed reliever Parker Markel from the Mariners. He's 28, he's bounced all over the planet, his only two stints in the majors came this year with a handful of bad cameos before Seattle gave up, too, and he's already been optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis.
Beneath the surface, too, the move might wind up just as minor. That's how these things go.
But it might be worth noting, regardless, that Clint Hurdle sounded unusually upbeat about the acquisition, speaking about it Saturday afternoon at Citi Field soon after a phone conversation with Neal Huntington.
"We like the fastball, the breaking ball, and the arm's played big," Hurdle said. "He's also a very interesting story. Trace the timeline, trace everywhere he's gone, the bounceback, and then he got to the big leagues this year. I know our analysts like him. I know our scouts who've seen him like him. The reports have all matched up, and they've all been positive."
OK, so why send him to the minors when the current staff could use something, anything positive?
"We need to get him to Indy, get him to be more consistent in the strike zone, and we'll see what we have."
Markel's 6 feet 4, 220 pounds, and brings a mid-90s fastball and a biting 83-mph slider. That's helped him post a 2.04 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 35 1/3 minor-league innings this season, split between Class AA Arkansas and Class AAA Tacoma. But his five appearances with the Mariners were miserable: 4 2/3 innings, nine runs, 10 hits, three home runs, three strikeouts, four walks and not a single scoreless appearance in the bunch.
As Hurdle noted, he's nothing if not resilient. He was a 39th-round draft pick in 2010, he's spent nine years in the minors and one in Korea.
To make room for Markel on the 40-man roster, Rookie Davis' injury list designation was changed from 10-day to 60-day.
