Pirates part ways with Trevor Williams, Jose Osuna to clear room on 40-man roster

With the deadline to finalize a 40-man roster Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates faced difficult decisions on which players to part ways with in order to protect a pair of prospects.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington chose to cut ties with two arbitration-eligible players who were unlikely to be tendered, designating right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams and infielder-outfielder Jose Osuna for assignment. The Pirates added infielder Rodolfo Castro and right-handed pitcher Max Kranick, who both spent this past summer at the alternate training site in Altoona.

“We definitely debated a lot. A lot of names. Got a lot of input from our scouts, our informatics group, our player development staff. Ultimately, it was pretty clear in the end who we were going to add,” Cherington said on a video conference call. “We spent a lot of time on other names, too, but it was pretty clear in the end that we felt like adding Kranick and Castro were the right calls. The hard part is we’re at 40, so the harder part is figuring out the corresponding moves. As I explained, we felt like it made sense anticipating what was likely going to happen with Williams and Osuna over the next couple weeks. Felt like it made sense to make those moves now.”

It was quite the fall for Williams, 28, a member of the Pirates’ starting rotation the past five seasons. He was only two years removed from an incredible 2018 season, when he had a 1.38 ERA in the second half and 1.29 over his final 13 starts to finish 14-10 with a 3.11 ERA.

But Williams went 2-8 with a 6.18 ERA and 1.572 WHIP in 55 1/3 innings over 11 starts this past season and had a 31-37 record and 4.43 ERA in 94 starts with the Pirates. With Williams entering his second year of arbitration, which likely would have increased his $2.825 million salary, he became a candidate to be nontendered.

“I had a chance to talk to Trevor today and just express to him how much we appreciate who he is as a person, his professionalism and what he’s done for the Pirates,” Cherington said. “He has been a good and reliable pitcher for the Pirates. He is certainly a really good guy. We’ll be rooting for him. We didn’t think we were going to be able to tender him, so we made that decision.”

Cherington attributed Williams’ struggles to a fastball that “became much less effective” and was “getting hit hard,” saying it impacted his overall performance this past season despite spending baseball’s shutdown working in Phoenix with new pitching coach Oscar Marin and being the only starter to stay healthy all season.

“You project our what the earnings are likely going to be,” Cherington added. “Trevor’s been a good pitcher, and I would bet on him being a good pitcher again. It’s not about that. We’re trying to make decisions on how we can best use the resources we have to build toward 2021 both in terms of salary and roster spot. We just felt like, right now, we weren’t going to be able to commit to Trevor. We’ll see what happens. He’s someone that we certainly respect as a person and as a professional.”

Osuna, 27, batted .205/.244/.397 with three doubles, four home runs and 11 RBIs in 26 games this past season, when he fell behind Colin Moran as designated hitter and Phillip Evans as the top backup corner infielder/outfielder. Osuna flashed power in 2019, when he 10 homers with 36 RBIs but never carved out a regular role and also was eligible for arbitration. Cherington indicated Osuna expressed interest in playing in Asia.

“It was just one where we expected we probably would be making a move with Jose and, given that interest, we sped that up,” Cherington said.

Castro, 21, is a switch-hitting infielder who is ranked the Pirates’ No. 26 prospect by MLBPipeline.com. Castro was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2015 and was named an All-Star in three of his first four minor-league seasons. He had 73 RBIs in 2019, split between low-Class A Greensboro and Class A-advanced Bradenton, and Cherington said Castro has the ability to play second base, third base and shortstop.

“Just a talented young player who has a chance to help a team, both on the offensive and defensive side of the game,” Cherington said. “He’s certainly got room to grow. … But an exciting young infield prospect.”

Kranick, 23, a former 11th-round pick by the Pirates, is their No. 24 prospect. Cherington said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Kranick, a graduate of Valley View High School in Scranton, made a “pretty significant change” by shortening his arm path that caused him to feel better both physically and with his stuff.

“He was up in the high 90s in Altoona, both the slider and changeup had shown improvement,” Cherington said. “A young, big, strong physical guy who we think has a chance to start. He would have been in Double As this year if the season happened. We’ll likely need some more innings in the minor leagues and hope that happens next year, but we’re encouraged by his progresses this year.”