SHAKEUP: Pirates Drop Dauri Moreta, Colin Holderman in Rule 5 CUTS—Roster IMPACT Analyzed!

SHAKEUP: Pirates Drop Dauri Moreta, Colin Holderman in Rule 5 CUTS—Roster IMPACT Analyzed!

Well, I told you yesterday the Pirates would zigg with these roll five choices. And boy, did they zag. Dowry Moretta DFA. Yeah. Let’s talk about what they did, what they didn’t, and why it matters. [Music] You are Locked On Pirates, your daily Pittsburgh Pirates podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Pirates on the number one daily sports podcast network for all you everydayers out there. Thanks for making me your first listen. And hey, December’s coming fast. The Everydayer Club launch is right around the corner. Can’t wait to tell you more about that. I’m Gary Morgan, former editor at steelc city pirates.com, covering the Pirates since 2019. Lifelong fan. I’ve seen just about everything, or at least I thought so. Yesterday was a banger. Uh here’s what we got today. First, we’ll compare yesterday’s predictions on roll five protection, what the Pirates actually did. Spoiler alert, they surprised me. Then we’ll talk about Jeff Passan dropping a few nug nuggets and I guess some would call them bombshells about uh Mitch Keller, Kyle Schwarber, and a wild Josh Naylor rumor that tells us something big about this front office. Finally, the Connor Griffin buzz. Could a 19-year-old really win the shortstop job in spring training? Let’s dive in. But first, today’s episode is brought to you by Fandal. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the app today. Boy, we love FanDuel. Make sure you support them. They’re really helping us out here. Segment one is about the rule five protection decisions. Um, let’s go basically and show you how wrong I was yesterday. Let’s start with the rule five decisions because this is where the Pirates really threw me a curveball. Yesterday I told you that they would protect Antoine Kelly, Brandon Bis, Emerlland Valdez, and I tossed in a maybe for Wilbur Dotel. Well, they kind of did a lot more than that, didn’t they? They ended up adding Emerllin Valdez, Jack Brangan, who I who we discussed yesterday, uh Wilbur Otell, Antoine Kelly, and Brandon Bedois. So, the big surprise there was Jack Bran again until I got to the name left-handed pitcher. And I can’t believe that that I didn’t think of it. Tyler Sam Diego, you know, I knew he was doing okay. It’s not like I didn’t think about him. I even considered him as an option to help the team last year when they needed lefty help. It didn’t cross my mind this year. I saw his name. I I just glazed right past it. Shocking. I understand it though. Again, this is a left-handed um reliever. They need those. He really came on last year and and with a reliever, you don’t necessarily care about age as much. So, he’s been protected. To make room, they’ve done some DFA. Uh Alexander Canario didn’t surprise me all that much. We talked about that possibility yesterday. Ronnie Simon, we talked about that being a possibility. They also decided to get rid of Colin Holderman. Okay. So, what was the big shock? Dowry Moretta. Dowry Moretta. Boy, that that shocked me a little bit. If only because I thought, here’s a guy who was pretty good, you know, when he first debuted with the Pirates. went down with the Tommy John surgery, fought his way back. Took him a little longer than I think that he or the team thought it would. Finally gets back. He’s not quite right. Now, if you’ve listened to this show for a while, which we all know many of you do and have, you’ve heard me say before, this is way back when Dowry Moretta was returning from the IIL. Everything was going to come down with Dowy on how that reverse slider worked. Okay. And the problem with that reverse slider is how much stress it put on his elbow. In other words, yeah, he’s fully recovered from the Tommy John, but two things. One, that pitch isn’t coming out the same way it was. It just isn’t. There’s something about it. they’ve either tweaked something with his technique to protect his elbow or he has because that pitch just wasn’t coming out the same way. Um it was such a unique pitch and it devastating because it had like this reverse tail on it that nobody seemed to know what to do with. It wasn’t the same as a two seamer that kind of darts in it. It had slider motion. It was there’s no other way to call it. It was a reverse slider. It really was. It just did. It didn’t seem to adhere to the rules of physics. Well, turns out it it did because it broke his elbow doing it. And I think that was probably a big factor here. In fact, I’ve talked to some people and seems like it really was a big factor. It’s not that he’s not fully recovered from his injury. It’s that in order to stay healthy, they and he kind of think that pitch needs to at least become much less devastating. And if that pitch is much less devastating, guess who else is much less effective? Dowry Moretta, right? I wouldn’t be shocked to find Dowry Moretta resign with this club on a minor league deal with a invite to spring training. Uh I would think you might be able to see something like that happen even with potentially Alexander Canario. I don’t think that that Colin Holderman will get to that point. The arm talent is crazy. Like I said, somebody will feel like they can chip the edges off of that raw gem and turn it into something. And change of scenery, you know what I mean? Now, Jack Brandan, I just didn’t think they’d pull the trigger yet because of the injuries. I really didn’t. The talent, it’s undeniable. It really is. He he has power and he will rival Jared Triolo as a fielder at third base and shortstop. He’s capable of both of those positions. Pirates need those positions. Even if they’re filled this year, even if you know, as we get to segment three, it looks like shortstops locked up. There’s nothing wrong with bringing in another talented fielder who can hit. So, if Jack Brangan can put the foot down on the gas this year, very good chance that he figures his way into the mix of this infield. Boy, all of this is just setting up for some trades, isn’t it? They’ve got now 24 pitchers, I believe, on their 20 or on their 40man roster, and I believe 22 of them are right-handed. So, well, no, 21 of them are right-handed, so that’s a lot. Feels like there should be a little bit of a mix here. A little bit of a shakeup. I think we could see that. I’m not shocked about Colin Holderman. Again, I think we we talked about that. It just felt like for whatever reason they weren’t getting through to him. The only caveat that I could really put on Colin Holderman and why maybe you would have a little trepidation there about letting him go. I I mean, I always compare him to early days Klay Holmes. You’re probably sick of hearing that sort of thing. and it may never pan out with him. So, I’m probably just piling on the evidence that I’m an idiot. But Colin Holderman has that kind of stuff. The fast ball is so freaking real and the movement on his pitches is disgusting. I’m shocked a little that they didn’t at least want their new pitching coach to get eyes on him. It was very clear whatever Oscar Marin was trying to do with him wasn’t working. It wasn’t getting through. He had lost trust. I think all of that is valid. Okay. That said, maybe there’s something bigger here at play where they’re just seeing something in the head. You know, it’s nothing physical. He’s performing well in the bullpen. I’ve actually heard from guys that caught him in the bullpen tell me they couldn’t understand what was happening to him because what he was doing in the bullpen there’s he was throwing unhitable stuff and then he goes out in that mound and just for whatever reason gets the yips. Things weren’t landing. Things weren’t being placed. Gripping the ball a little too tight. you know, like maybe there’s stuff there that this team just felt like they couldn’t solve andor don’t have time to. Alexander Canario, did that surprise you at all? The only reason I ask is because, you know, it’s a center field option. We we know we have O’Neal Cruz there and we’re a little bit worried about that, but they kept Jack Sinsky, at least so far. The tender deadline isn’t until Friday, but they kept Jack Sinsky. At least for now, that’s your center field backup, unless they do something better. It really is. Now, while these moves were surprising, what Jeff Passan reported or Passen, sorry, I don’t want anybody to correct me in the comments again, as if it really matters how I pronounce some writer’s name, but uh he reported some really interesting things about the Pirates yesterday. And segment two, we’re going to dive into it. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride that hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to the fourth quarter big comeback. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game interesting, especially when your team’s making that late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fandle.com and sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Hey, welcome back to Locked On Pirates, the on the number one sports network in all of the land, Locked On. It’s really, really fun to be here with you talking about some interesting stuff for once. I mean, like not guesses about what might happen, but stuff that actually happened. It’s kind of exciting to be in my position and be able to talk about some of this stuff now. So, Jeff Passan dropped two nuggets that have the baseball world buzzing. U Mitch Keller, this one’s not quite as exciting, but something that, you know, it’s nice to have confirmed and I think it is a little bit of a different angle on it. Uh Jeff put forward that on Mitch Keller there’s the market needs to heat up a little bit before we really get into this and he needs to be the beneficiary of free agent prices getting insane for starting pitchers. The Pirates will move them would move them would be willing to move them probably the best way to put it. But Keller is considered a big part here and it’s going to take a decent amount. So the prices are going to have to come up above what seems fair. And by that I mean if you were to trade Keller with no pressure, you know, right now um and there’s still all these free agent options out there on the board and other trade candidates out there on the board. there’s a good chance you’re just not going to get the kind of return that you’re really looking for from Mitch Keller. And you might be better off just keeping him. And I think that’s where they are. They’re willing. I think they’re listening. I think they will listen. I don’t think it’s inevitable. And I also think some of the other things Jeff reported here make me feel like that Keller report and I’ve heard this now is no longer something that we should see as a necessity as far as them getting somebody signed. They’re not afraid to spend a little bit of money without making it first. At least based on these reports and what I’m hearing. um Schwarber interest. The pirates actually have it. They have reportedly checked in on Schwarber. They’ve reportedly posted up at least a minimum um proposed deal for him. I I’ve heard four or five years is in play. I’ve heard they would be willing to talk about broaching 30 million. The difference is other teams are going to do a lot more than talk about broaching 30 million. So I guess what I want to say is while that Kyle Schwarber nugget is interesting, I don’t believe they have a real chance of landing him. But I think what’s important is to just realize that the dollar figure was out there almost like the other report that came out about the Josh Naylor signing. Okay, Josh Naylor ended up staying with Seattle. The Pirates reportedly offered north of $80 million to get Josh Naylor to come play with the Pirates. Keep in mind, they’ve got a first baseman. Josh Naylor was going to be a DH. And this team that has never ever signed a free agent for more than three years and $39 million total. Francisco Liriani, shout out. They offered north of $80 million to sign a free agent. It’s a big bat. Tells you a couple things. Couple important things. one boy, they’re really valuing that lefty power bat. It’s the lefty power bat specifically that they’re on the hunt for right now and what they’re going out there to try to be looks like at least in the top tier of interest out there. I’ve heard that Cody Bellinger is being courted. Now, we’ve seen them swing and miss on Cody Bellinger before, but again, the Pirates are one of the teams that’s actually willing. And one of Cody Bellinger’s bigger suitors is the Yankees wanting to bring him back. Well, they just brought Trent Gisham back for $22 million because he signed the tender contract. That’s insane, you know? I mean, like, that’s a lot of money for Trent Gisham. I don’t know. I The Yankees certainly have the money. It’s not like It’s not like they can’t get Bellinger done, but maybe they don’t want to have 80 90 million wrapped up in their outfield. You know, I I’m just saying he could shake free and and it wouldn’t be like other teams wouldn’t be in on Bellinger. I mean, the Cubs are going to probably lose Kyle Tucker. They’ll be interested in Bellinger. you know, there there’s going to be a lot of opportunities, but if the Pirates are really really going to go out there and try to take one of those guys, well, I think they they first would have to embrace they’re going to have to overpay, and you’re probably going to have to be willing to take in an opt out, if not a two-sided mutual option type thing. Multiple years is a must. Looks like we’ve crossed that hurdle at least. The offers that I’ve heard they’ve put out there for players so far have all been multiple year. Well, these are big guys that they’re going after. If they miss them all, this is not going to look good on them. Like, I heard I saw some fans out there talking about this is all PR for the Pirates. What are you even talking about? How’s this PR for the Pirates? They’re not going to sign the vast majority of these guys that get rumored, okay? Like there may be 10, 15, 20 guys rumored this year that the Pirates are interested in. If they sign one or two of them, we don’t rate these things as journalists or talking heads as, you know, like we do baseball averages, I’m not going to go, well, they hit 300, you know, they I’m not going to do that. I’m gonna say they they missed on these guys that really could have impacted their roster. They didn’t miss on these ones that are just kind of there. They’re willing to spend big even if they miss. That 80 million turns into two or three solid contributors. This team could be much better than anyone expected. Don’t dream on Schwarber, but maybe start believing that they’re a little bit more serious than they have been about adding some impact talent. Again, we’re really early days here and a lot of these things really are just rumors and I don’t believe the Pirates can pull anything like this off without probably overspending a little bit. Okay. Like I expect if they end up getting something done with a bigger contributor like let’s say they were to get let’s let’s dream a little and say that they are going to get Cody Bellinger. Let’s they do everything that they need to do. I would expect the news cycle on something like that to sound an awful lot like well yeah the Pirates outbid I know. I know. I know. Stop laughing for a second. Let me get through the sentence at least first. Cody Bellinger was expected to get 22.5 million. The Pirates gave him 26 for three years with an opt out after two. And the Yankees just couldn’t get above 22. They just didn’t see it being worth more than Gisham, right? I mean, like, that’s a lot of money. I expect if you hear the Pirates win something like that, that’s how I expect it to be. They outbid. They’ve never done it before. So, I’m not going to sit here and tell you like, “Oh, that’s the way it will work.” This is what you should expect. But I’m saying that report has been verified three or four times. They had a deal on the table for Josh Naylor for over $80 million. That’s information we haven’t had here. That’s that’s a little different than back in the day when they swung and missed on David Price, remember? And everyone was like, I can’t believe they were even in on David Price. I mean, some of us got, you know, a little excited about back in the day because that was the first time I had even heard a top tier free agent’s name, you know, and that was before the, you know, the the decent run last decade. But I I mean like just knowing they’re in that ballpark first. If they miss and they don’t wind up getting one of these higher echelon free agents, let’s be reasonable. Okay, let’s let’s not make it have to be one of the top two or three free agents out there. But if they if they either get that or one of the guys from Japan or one of the top candidates from Korea, if they go that route and they really put their money where their mouth is and get something done. I don’t think it fixes the team entirely, but I think it would definitely like open a new chapter for this team. It would make things a little more fun for Pirates fans in general just to dream. Just to dream. just knowing what’s possible. Again, we’re sitting here as a franchise that has never signed a free agent for more than three years, $39 million. And technically, very technically speaking, that was a free agent signing because you could consider it just an extension. It’s not. It’s a free agent signing because how it worked. But Vince Frankie didn’t leave first. He he he stayed where he was. So even that was a little different. This is not This is like a willingness to spend big dollars on one player that I haven’t seen. The other side of this too is if you’re going to be willing to spend that kind of money on somebody like Josh Naylor and you do swing and miss, I can think of a way that you could spend that 80 million. I can think you could spend it on some impact talent. Let’s talk about the 19-year-old who might just skip the line and take over shortstop. I might give him my $80 million, too. Just me. Just me. Let’s not get carried away. All right. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Locked On Pirates. Uh, let’s close strong here today. Um, you want to keep the conversation going, find me on socials. Uh, I’ll link them in the show notes, but Gary M20007 onx, Gary Morgan, anywhere. Locked on Pirates anywhere. Pirates fan forum, you can even find me on anywhere. Make sure you hit me up. Uh Jeff Passan also reported the Pirates are strongly considering giving Connor Griffin a shot to win the shortstop job in spring training. Griffin’s just 19. He finished uh his pro debut with a 333 average, 415 on base percentage, and a 527. That’s not right. Whoops. Sorry. Transposed the numbers. Uh 21 home runs, 65 RBI’s. Consensus minor league player of the year in 2025. Baseball’s number one overall prospect. He’s 6’4, 225 pounds, and yes, he’s played center field more than the dabbling that Jeff Passen suggests in his piece. He’s legit versatile. So, I would think this means they’re not going to look for a long-term shortstop solution externally. That means like probably get your Bo Bashette dreams out your head. Don’t see that happening. Um, didn’t see that happening anyway. But I I mean I would say like on a normal team if you could, if you wanted to, if it was there for you, do it and move Griffin to to center field. I mean like you don’t have to worry necessarily about what you’re leaving open for Connor. But if Griffin wins this job, Nick Gonzalez and and Nick York have second base. You got Termar Johnson coming pretty soon. They really do believe in him. If he’s not ready, I would imagine they’ll just shortterm patch shorts stop because I can’t imagine that you want to block him up. Even if he doesn’t make it in spring, you’re going to have to imagine that they give the convers the competition a real look, right? So, it’s going to be a real competition for shortstop. And if by some chance they go, “Yeah, well, Connor, it needed to be kind of along the lines of what Jared Jones did a couple years ago, or it really needed to be along the lines of what um, you know, Paul Ske looks like, you know, insane, undeniable, have to give you a shot.” If it looks like there’s anything out of place, anything. I mean, even if like you got a fresh haircut and that and a calick just will not go down, Connor, you’re going to go to the miners for a little bit. That’s the most likely scenario. So, let’s not avoid it like it’s not. And let’s also not act like they’re sending him to Awitz. I hate the way that everybody reacts to these kids. They do not have to start right away. There is no timetable besides ready. Ready, not ready. That’s it. And if you open the door to willingness for Connor Griffin to win this job, I don’t see any reason why you would doubt their willingness to actually make the move. Especially, you can call a lot of things wrong that this team does, but especially this team under Ben Harington recently, they have been flying prospects, especially pitchers. love to see them do it with a position player. Okay, I think Connor Griffin’s got a real shot here to be the opening day shortstop first. I don’t think the Pirates have a better option. I don’t think there’s going to be a better option via trade. I don’t think there’s going to be a better option via free agency. I think you could bring in a contingency plan, but I think your contingency plan might very well wind up being Nick Gonzalez or Jared Triolo or some mix thereof or maybe even, you know, at some point Jack Branigan comes up and and mixes into that third base situation. They’ve got a lot of outfielders and infielders that that that they could play with. Connor can go anywhere. I think he’s got a legitimate shot. I don’t think this is a guess anymore as to whether he really could. I think you could have a couple rookies make this team right out of spring. We might have to make that a topic actually, but I think Connor Griffin is is probably very likely to at least stick until you start getting towards the end of the the spring. I would think a couple weeks left if they’re going to give him a legitimate chance. you’ll know right away how real this is because he’s not on the roster. So, if they start out spring and say 3 weeks in they do that thing where they cut him and send him to minor league camp, well, you’ll know right away they weren’t really going to give him a chance. Okay? And that this was probably a false report. That’s all there is to it. No, if no way to And I’m not saying Jeff lied to you. I’m just saying he he was given a false bill of goods, that’s all. And I and I I we’ve certainly been sold that stuff from the Pirates before. But if Connor is legitimately in spring camp past that date where he could get injured and put on the 40man and start his clock one way or another, then they’re serious about it. They’re basically saying even if he gets injured, he’s a major leager. We don’t care. We’re ready to start that clock. For once, though, I’d really like the Pirates to not shoot themselves in the foot. This is probably now the third year in a row that they’ve had what I consider to be a Rookie of the Year candidate before they even start, which is way too early to be deciding who is and isn’t a a Rookie of the Year candidate. I totally acknowledge that, guys. We’re just having a little fun here. But they they’ve had Paul Ske, right? They’ve had Bubba Chandler and now they’ve got Connor Griffin. Don’t mess with them. You know, don’t take your own ability to get that draft pick compensation back for having a guy win rookie of the year. Don’t put yourself in the same position that you just did with Paul Skins where you lose a year of control and you don’t get anything out of it because even if they put him in the minors, guys, I can’t see it going until like June, I I really can’t. They’re going to need to address offense. I believe Connor Griffin is a big part of that addressing of offense. And the the last thing I’m going to say just be about this subject, this is a different situation than Ben Sharington’s been in before. Okay? Like as a baseball analyst, which I very much am, I can tell you, you might be wise to stretch out this Connor Griffin thing a little bit. Get past the Super Two. Make sure you get that nail. don’t he won’t win the the the rookie of the year this year if you wait long enough. The team will do okay because you’ve got better pieces. You are going to go out and sign that free agent, right? So, you’re going to make the team better and the pitching staff’s going to be insane. Conor will come along and he’ll help and get the team where they go in the second half and don’t worry about it. It’s more about how long we have Connor. Well, if I’m a general manager that basically kept his job by dangling off of a cliff by a piece of dental floss, I don’t think that I’m going to be thinking about seven years down the road. I think I’m going to be thinking about right now and what I can do to make this team the best it can possibly be right now. And if that’s the supposition, then we should fully expect Honor Griffin and anybody else that looks like they could be transformative to have a real shot to make this club. That’s it for today’s episode. Tomorrow, we’ll dig a little bit deeper into what these moves mean for the opening day roster and how the Pirates spending strategy could reshape expectations. Maybe we can look at some different candidates that I’ve ignored and thought were irrational before. Remember, we’re serious about Pirates baseball here at Locked On Pirates because somebody has to be. Let’s go box.

Pittsburgh Pirates shock fans with bold Rule 5 roster moves and hints at an aggressive offseason spending spree. Dauri Moreta’s unexpected DFA raises eyebrows, while Jack Brannigan, Antoine Kelly, and Esmeralda Valdez join the 40-man roster amid talk of imminent trades and strategic shakeups. Is the front office finally ready to break franchise records by pursuing big bats like Kyle Schwarber and Josh Naylor?

Gary Morgan spotlights the Pirates’ rising willingness to spend—reportedly offering over $80 million for power hitters—and explores whether Mitch Keller is truly on the trade block. Intrigue surrounds 19-year-old phenom Konnor Griffin, who could vie for the starting shortstop job in spring training. Can Griffin’s versatility reshape the infield and spark a new era for the Buccos? Get informed on key prospects, potential free agent targets, and how these moves could redefine the Pirates’ outlook for 2025 and beyond.

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Pittsburgh Pirates, Pirates News, Pirates Rumors, MLB, Rule 5 Draft, Konnor Griffin, Mitch Keller, Kyle Schwarber, Josh Naylor, Cody Bellinger, Dauri Moreta, Alexander Canario, Colin Holderman, Jack Brannigan, Nick Gonzalez, Termarr Johnson, Jared Triolo, Esmeralda Valdez, Antoine Kelly, Wilbur Dotel, Pirates Spending, MLB Free Agents, Pirates Podcast, Locked On Pirates, baseball prospects, Pirates roster moves