The Pirates made a LOT of player moves yesterday, at multiple levels of their organization.
At the major league level, the team selected the contract of Brady Feigl, recalled Henry Davis from Triple-A, and placed veteran outfielder Michael A. Taylor on outright waivers.
None of these moves were things anyone saw coming (except for maybe Davis after Joey Bart went down with injury in yesterday’s game), but the most surprising was the waiving of Taylor, which was first reported by Robert Murray.
Now, to be clear, this does not necessarily mean that Taylor is gone. Let’s break down some scenarios, with some help from the MLB glossary.
Per the MLB’s glossary, when a team places a player on outright waivers, every other team in the league has a chance to claim said player. Claiming order is in reverse of winning percentage (so if two teams put in a claim, the worse team gets priority), and if a team claims him, they are now on the hook for the remaining money owed to the player on his contract.
These waivers last 48 hours, which allowed Taylor to be in Pittsburgh’s lineup yesterday.
If no one claims Taylor, the Pirates could, in theory, outright him to Triple-A Indianapolis, but since Taylor has over five years of service time to his name, he has the right to refuse an assignment to the minor leagues. If he did that, Taylor would simply remain on the Pirates’ roster.
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