The Pirates finally made their long-anticipated roster decisions Friday evening, adding shortstop Liover Peguero and outfielders Travis Swaggerty, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Jack Suwinski to the 40-man roster to protect them from next month's Rule 5 draft.
To make room on the roster, the club designated catcher Michael Pérez for assignment. Earlier in the week, right-hander Tanner Anderson, utilityman Phillip Evans and catcher Taylor Davis were removed from the roster and released.
The Pirates' roster is currently full at 40 players.
Anticipating these moves, the two no-brainers were Peguero and Swaggerty. Peguero, 20, is ranked by Baseball America as the club's No. 5 prospect and 77th overall. One of two players the club got in the Starling Marte trade, Peguero slashed .270/.332/.444 with 14 home runs and 28 stolen bases with Class High-A Greensboro this season.
Swaggerty, 24, was the club's 2018 first-round draft pick, and had it not been for him injuring his right, non-throwing shoulder in May diving back on a pickoff play, he most likely would have already reached the majors. General manager Ben Cherington confirmed Friday that his rehab is going well and that he's on pace to be a full participant in spring training. Baseball America had him ranked as the club's No. 14 prospect.
After those two, there was a wide pool of players that the Pirates could have protected, but they ultimately decided on two recently-acquired outfielders.
Smith-Njigba, 22, came over from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade in January. After posting an .805 OPS with six home runs for Class AA Altoona, he was promoted to Indianapolis at the end of the season. He was one of the Pirates' top performers in the Arizona Fall League, slashing .298/.452/.456 and going 5-for-5 on stolen base attempts. He is NO. 29 on Baseball America's top 30.
Suwinski, 23, was part of the Adam Frazier trade with the Padres this past trade deadline. He hit 262 with an .868 OPS and 19 home runs playing in Class AA ball for both clubs, but did better with the Padres' farm team. He is not ranked in Baseball America's list, though he did get special mention in the honorable mentions as a fast riser.
The Pirates opted to leave several notable prospects off the roster, including No. 11 prospect right-hander Tahnaj Thomas, No. 15 right-hander Cody Bolton, No. 20 outfielder Cal Mitchell, No. 27 righty Eddy Yean, first baseman Mason Martin and pitchers Omar Cruz, Yerry De Los Santos and Hunter Stratton. I made a full list of their pros and cons in this week's Mound Visit.
The non-tender deadline to remove players on the 40-man roster is Dec. 2.
