Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: Pirates lose Jerry Sands, Ryan Reid on waivers
By Matt Shetler
While the Pittsburgh Pirates are still in search of a first baseman for the holidays, they lost a pair of players left unprotected on the 40-man roster.
The Tampa Bay Rays have claimed outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands, while relief pitcher Ryan Reid was claimed by the New York Mets.
Feb 12, 2013; Bradenton, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Jerry Sands walks to the field during a workout session for spring training at Pirate City. Mandatory Credit: Douglas Jones-USA TODAY Sports
Sands and Reid were was designated for assignment 10 days ago in order to clear room on the Bucs’ 40-man roster for Clint Barmes and Edinson Volquez.
Sands, who turned 26 at the end of the season, batted just .207/.311/.329 with seven home runs in 106 games (397 PAs) for Triple-A Indianapolis this season.
The Pirates acquired him last season in the trade that sent Mark Melancon to Pittsburgh and Joel Hanrahan to Boston. In his minor league career, Sands is a .276/.366/.526 hitter with 128 homers in 2,433 plate appearances. He will give the Rays some depth at first base, but his path to regular playing time is likely blocked by James Loney, who just signed a three-year deal with the Rays.
The 28-year-old Reid made his big league debut for the Pirates in 2013 and pitched well, posting a 1.64 ERA with seven strike outs and three walks in 11 innings of work. He posted a 51.5 percent ground-ball rate and averaged 91.9 mph on his fastball in that brief sample.
Reid has enjoyed continued success as a reliever in the minors, as evidenced by his career 3.57 ERA in 194 innings at Triple-A. He’s averaged 8.6 strikeouts and 3.2 walks per nine innings in parts of three seasons at that level.
He should have a solid opportunity to land a regular role in the Mets bullpen, something he likely wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do in Pittsburgh.