The Pittsburgh Pirates have demoted outfielder Brandon Jones from AAA Indianapolis to AA Altoona, and have also signed Yung Chi Chen, who was recently with the Oakland Athletics. The moves bring Altoona’s roster up to 24, after seeing the promotions of Daniel Moskos and Alex Presley to Indianapolis leave the team shorthanded.
For Jones, the move is the latest in what has been an all around poor season. Jones was on the Atlanta Braves’ 40-man roster until being designated for assignment in mid-November. The Pirates claimed him off of waivers, but optioned him to AAA to start the season, and designated him for assignment at the end of April. Jones cleared waivers, and was outrighted to AAA. Jones hasn’t had the best year, hitting for a .205/.277/.321 line in 156 at-bats with Indianapolis, following a 2009 season that saw him hit for a .281/.360/.419 line in 384 at-bats.
Chen is in his 7th year in the minors, and now joins his third organization. He originally started with Seattle, and was claimed off of waivers by Oakland before the 2009 season. After posting a .168/.218/.257 line in 101 at-bats at the AA level in 2010, Oakland released him. Chen spent time on Seattle’s 40-man roster, but saw his career derailed with injuries. Chen is listed as a second baseman.
