The Pittsburgh Pirates have released infielder Dan Gamache. He spent the 2016 season with Indianapolis, where he saw limited time throughout the season, hitting .244/.338/.324 in 176 at-bats. He was a sixth round draft pick in 2011 out of Auburn. The 25-year-old Gamache put up strong stats during the first half of 2015 with Altoona, then struggled with the jump to Triple-A. He was a backup at third base and first base this season, though he saw more time in the DH/PH role.
In six seasons, he hit .276/.345/.397 in 513 games and played a majority of his time at second base. Gamache didn’t have any plus tools to his game, so the upside was always limited to someone who could possibly make the majors if everything went right. He was going to be a minor league free agent after the 2017 season and with players moving up from Altoona, he likely would have served the same role next season, possibly even getting bumped to the 26th man role. That was played by Juan Diaz this season, who was activated for three games all year and never played (before going down to Bristol where he switched to pitching).