The Pirates signed Hall to a minor-league contract on Dec. 21, MiLB Central reports. Hall spent the entirety of the 2024 season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies organization, hitting .236/.320/.387 with 16 homers in 114 games. The Pirates don't have much first base depth, so while Hall is likely to begin the 2025 season at Triple-A Indianapolis, it's possible he'll eventually get another shot at the major-league level.
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The Pirates signed Hall to a minor-league contract on Dec. 21, MiLB Central reports. Hall spent the entirety of the 2024 season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the Phillies organization, hitting .236/.320/.387 with 16 homers in 114 games. The Pirates don't have much first base depth, so while Hall is likely to begin the 2025 season at Triple-A Indianapolis, it's possible he'll eventually get another shot at the major-league level.
The Pirates signed McCutchen to a one-year, $5 million contract Monday, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. It's the same contract terms that McCutchen inked last offseason. The 38-year-old collected a .739 OPS with 20 home runs in 2024 as the Pirates' full-time designated hitter. He should have the same role for Pittsburgh in 2025.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on Dec. 10 in an interview on MLB Network that Bart will enter 2025 as the favorite to start at catcher, The Bucco Beat reports. The Pirates acquired Bart shortly after Opening Day and he eventually emerged as the team's primary catcher, slashing .265/.337/.462 with 13 home runs over 280 plate appearances. Endy Rodriguez will be back from elbow surgery and Henry Davis is still around, so Bart will have competition for playing time behind the plate, but he'll enter the season with a leg up for the starting job.
The Red Sox traded Valdez to the Pirates on Sunday in exchange for minor-league pitcher Joe Vogatsky. Valdez was DFA'd by Boston on Wednesday, but he'll get a fresh start in the Pirates organization. Valdez slashed .214/.270/.363 with six home runs in 223 plate appearances in 2024 while primarily playing second base.
Fulmer signed a minor-league contract with the Pirates on Friday and received an invitation to spring training, Robert Murray of FanSided.com reports. Over a career-high 86.2 innings with the Angels last season, Fulmer logged a 4.15 ERA and 1.40 WHIP across 37 appearances (eight starts). If the right-hander is able to offer similar production during spring training, he could have a decent shot at making the Pirates' Opening Day roster, though it's unclear if Pittsburgh will prefer to use him as a starter or out of the bullpen.
The Pirates signed Rainey to a minor-league contract Dec. 6 that includes an invitation to spring training. Rainey was non-tendered by the Nationals in November after posting a 4.76 ERA and 44:29 K:BB over 51 innings in 2024 in his first year back from Tommy John surgery. The reliever's stuff hasn't looked the same post-op, but he's a fine gamble on a non-roster deal in hopes that he can rediscover it.
The Pirates signed Solak to a minor-league contract Dec. 6. Solak, who turns 30 in January, slashed .311/.406/.446 with nine home runs and 10 stolen bases over 90 games at Triple-A Tacoma in the Mariners organization in 2024. He has a career .252/.327/.372 batting line in parts of five major-league seasons.
The Guardians traded Horwitz to the Pirates on Tuesday in exchange for Josh Hartle, Luis Ortiz and Michael Kennedy, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports. Just hours after being traded to Cleveland in the deal that sent Andres Gimenez to Toronto, Horwitz will now land in Pittsburgh instead while the Guardians add to their organizational depth. The 27-year-old has covered first and second base during his time in the big leagues and should have no problem starting regularly in a Pirates infield that lacks impact bats. Moving to Pittsburgh will also reunite him with hitting coach Matt Hague, under whom Horwitz posted a .790 OPS in 2024.
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