Mike Zagurski has been outrighted to Triple-A. (Photo by: David Hague)

The Pittsburgh Pirates designated Mike Zagurski for assignment last week to make room on the roster for Brandon Cumpton. Today the lefty cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A, according to Tim Dierkes of MLB Trade Rumors. Pirates fans probably won’t want to see Zagurski around after his struggles in the majors, but the Indianapolis pitching staff has been very depleted with all of the call-ups and injuries. At the least, Zagurski should be able to take some innings and help keep the pitching staff fresh in Indianapolis.

If the Pirates need another lefty in the majors later in the year, they’ll probably be better off turning to Andy Oliver or Kris Johnson.

UPDATE WEDNESDAY 6:30 PM: According to MLBTR, Zagurski has elected free agency. So it looks like he won’t be helping out the Indianapolis pitching staff.

Jerry Sands has been placed on the Triple-A disabled list. (Photo Credit: David Hague)

Here are the minor league moves from this afternoon.

**Jerry Sands has been placed on the Indianapolis DL, and the move has been backdated to June 17th. No word on the injury, although the minors only have a seven day DL, so the fact that this is backdated indicates that he won’t be out long. According to the comments below, he had a hamstring issue.

**Oscar Tejeda has been promoted from Altoona to take his place on the roster.

**Eliecer Navarro has been officially added to the Altoona roster and will start tonight. John Eshleman reported earlier this week that Navarro was already in Altoona and would be added to the roster.

**Kelson Brown has been placed on the Altoona DL.

**Stetson Allie and Orlando Castro have been officially added to the Bradenton roster. I reported earlier in the week that they would be joining the team after the All-Star break. Allie isn’t in the lineup tonight, and I’m guessing he will be in tomorrow’s game since he was expected to join the team tomorrow.

**Taylor Lewis has been placed on the 7-day DL for Bradenton. Dan Grovatt has been activated from the 7-day DL. Both of these guys, when healthy, should be bench outfielders for the Marauders with Allie joining the team.

**2012 draft pick Chris Diaz, who had been rehabbing in extended Spring Training, has been added to the West Virginia roster.

**Luis Heredia has been officially added to the West Virginia roster. I reported on Monday that he would be flying up to West Virginia on Tuesday to join the team. He pitched on Monday, so he’s expected to make his next start anywhere from Saturday-Monday.

**Right-handed pitcher Clario Perez has been added to the West Virginia roster. Perez is a hard throwing right-hander and should join the West Virginia bullpen. They could be moving a reliever to the rotation after losing Joely Rodriguez and Orlando Castro and only replacing them with Heredia.

Reese McGuire has officially signed.

Yesterday we heard that the Pittsburgh Pirates would be signing first round pick Reese McGuire today. Today the Pirates made the move official. No word yet on the bonus, although McGuire was expected to sign for close to slot. The catcher will head to the Gulf Coast League, which begins on Friday.

After the draft, Jessica Quiroli reported that McGuire had made the decision to go pro. He couldn’t sign until after his high school graduation, which was this past weekend.

McGuire was the top catching prospect in the 2013 draft. He’s got great defensive skills, which will allow him to stick behind the plate for the long-run. That’s never a guarantee for prep catchers, but McGuire’s defense is unlike most prep players, highlighted by above-average receiving, blocking, and arm skills. He’s also been calling his own games since the age of 10, so he’s well ahead of where most catchers are at that age.

The questions about McGuire surround his bat. Some think he has the hitting skills to be a starter in the majors, with a good stroke, good bat speed, the ability to hit for average and the ability to hit for some power. Others feel his bat won’t progress enough to hit as a regular.

UPDATE 2:04 PM: Travis Sawchik reports that McGuire’s deal is slightly under slot.

McGuire's deal is for just under the slot value for the 14th overall pick ($2.56 million), according to a source

— Travis Sawchik (@Sawchik_Trib) June 18, 2013

That’s only $9,800 saved from his total slot price, so it’s not a huge amount saved.

UPDATE 2:36 PM: Jim Callis has a different figure.

#Pirates sign 1st-rder Reese McGuire for $2,369,000. Washington HSer, best C in #mlbdraft, lefty hitter w/plus bat, arm, receiving skills.

— Jim Callis (@jimcallisBA) June 18, 2013

That makes a bit more sense, as it saves $200,800. That makes more sense than the Pirates signing McGuire for less than $10,000 under slot.

After signing second rounder Blake Taylor to an under-slot deal, the Pirates have $266,000 for over-slot deals without any penalties. Kozikowski’s deal will put them about $5,000 over-budget, although they could still create room with any number of their top ten round picks. They can also spend up to $701,345 in over-slot deals without forfeiting a draft pick. Kozikowski will take his physical later in the week, and should officially sign by the end of the week.

The right-hander wasn’t on the radar in any top draft prospects rankings, but seems like the type of projectable arm the Pirates love. He’s 6′ 4″, 180 pounds, and throws 86-88 MPH but has touched 92. He throws from a 3/4 arm slot, and has a projectable frame, which could give him added velocity in the future. He also has a good changeup, a solid slider, and a cutter. Originally I questioned whether he might be an under-slot candidate, but after considering his commitment to VCU — which has a good baseball program — I thought he might be a little bit more difficult to sign.

Jose Contreras is back in the Pirates’ system.

The Pittsburgh Pirates released Jose Contreras last week, but have signed him back to a minor league deal, according to an Indianapolis Indians press release. Contreras was given his outright release to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. After the release, Neal Huntington noted that he might have needed more time in Triple-A to rehab his arm after an elbow injury last year.

Contreras will serve as bullpen depth out of Triple-A, although because of the release last week, and the minor league deal this week, he won’t take up a spot on the 40-man roster. He only made four appearances with Indianapolis last time around, which was also on a minor league assignment. At the time the Pirates had to make a decision to add Contreras to the active roster, or pay a retention bonus to keep him. They opted to add him to the majors and give him a shot out of the bullpen. He gave up five earned runs on seven hits and six walks in five innings.

Even if Contreras doesn’t pitch in the majors, he should help the Indianapolis pitching staff, which is extremely depleted due to all of the injuries and promotions at the major league level.

Reese McGuire will sign with the Pirates tomorrow. – Image Credit: Getty Images

According to Travis Sawchik, the Pittsburgh Pirates are set to sign Reese McGuire tomorrow.

#Pirates first-round pick Reese McGuire is on a plane to Pittsburgh and will take physical & sign tomorrow, according to McGuire's HS coach

— Travis Sawchik (@Sawchik_Trib) June 17, 2013

McGuire graduated high school this weekend. The Pirates were unable to sign him to a deal before that happened. He seemed eager to sign after being drafted, telling Jessica Quiroli that he had decided to turn pro. So it’s no surprise that he is signing the first chance he could. McGuire should start his season in the GCL, which begins on Friday.

UPDATE 6:39 PM: Sawchik has more in his story in the Trib, noting that McGuire is expected to sign for “near slot”.

Luis Heredia leaves for West Virginia tomorrow.

Luis Heredia made his final start in extended Spring Training today against the Baltimore Orioles’ minor leaguers. Heredia went 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. The right-hander will fly to West Virginia tomorrow, where he will join the roster after the All-Star break. The post-break rotation hasn’t been set yet, so no word on when Heredia will throw. He won’t throw Thursday or Friday, since that is less than five days rest.

Heredia was throwing his fastball in the 89-91 MPH range today, and was mostly working fastball/changeup. He mixed in a few curveballs, as well as his new slurve. The slurve was added last year to try and get more strikeouts. He still throws his mid-70s curveball, but will be using the mid-80s slurve more as an out pitch. Heredia can sit 92-94 MPH with his fastball, and can touch upper 90s, but has been slowing it down to work on command.

He will be under an inning limit in West Virginia, similar to what he’s done in the past and what Tyler Glasnow is currently doing at the level. He will be capped each start at around 4-5 innings and 75 pitches due to his young arm. He will probably also work mostly off the fastball and changeup.

Joely Rodriguez and Orlando Castro were each promoted to Bradenton today, which will open up spots in the rotation for Heredia.

Yesterday Neal Huntington said that Allie was close to a promotion from West Virginia. On Sunday Huntington explained the potential promotion, and why the Pirates have left Allie in West Virginia to this point.

Stetson Allie will join the Bradenton Marauders this week.

“He’s done a very nice job and the ability to drive a ball to right-center field with the authority that he does it is very encouraging,” Huntington said. “He’s got a short, clean swing for a big man. He’s got some things he can work on, and that’s where… we’ve left him there maybe a little bit longer than I think most would want us to because it’s his second or third time through the league. So those coaches have been able spot holes, so it may not be the pitcher on the mound that spots a hole, it’s a manager, it’s the pitching coach in that dugout and they can attack him. Now Stetson’s had to make some adjustments back. So sometimes that gets lost in the rush of prospects to the next level, is it may be better for a prospect to stay at a level longer, because of people knowing. It’s not that hard to blow through a system, because nobody knows you and you go do things that are a little atypical. Driving the ball to right-center field for a man as big as Stetson is atypical. Most guys are gonna look to hook and pull and they become easy to pitch. Stetson’s not easily pitched, so we’ve left him there with some patience to try to help him understand what pitchers are gonna do to him as they learn him more. But he’s certainly doing what he needs to do to move to the next level. It’s just a matter of time.”

Allie is hitting for a .324/.414/.607 line in 244 at-bats this year with 17 home runs. He will participate in the SAL Home Run Derby tonight, and play in the SAL All-Star Game tomorrow.

I mentioned over the weekend that I thought Orlando Castro was close to being promoted, and could arrive before his next start. The left-hander has a 1.93 ERA in 74.2 innings, with a 7.6 K/9 and an 0.7 BB/9. He’s got great control, plus good off-speed pitches, which combined with being a left-hander usually leads to great numbers in A-ball. Castro does throw his fastball a bit harder than most small lefties, getting it up to the low 90s at times, so he might have a better chance at carrying his success over to the higher levels. High-A hitters should provide a tougher test for him than the guys in the South Atlantic League.

One unexpected promotion is Joely Rodriguez. It’s not unexpected based on his season. The left-hander has a 2.72 ERA in 72.2 innings, with a 7.1 K/9 and a 2.5 BB/9 ratio. Rodriguez has been on fire since the end of April, with a 1.51 ERA in 53.2 innings over his last ten starts, along with a 41:11 K/BB ratio in that span. The left-hander is 21 years old, and one of the best left-handed pitching prospects in the system. He can throw his fastball up to 94 MPH, getting a lot of groundouts with his two-seamer and sinker. He has great off-speed stuff, with a mid-80s slider and a low-to-mid 80s changeup. Both pitches have good cutting action, and his fastball also has a lot of movement. One issue for Rodriguez in the past has been command. He’s struggled to command the fastball, especially in the 91-94 MPH range. That has caused him to lower his velocity, which has made the pitch less effective in the past due to the lack of separation in velocity with his off-speed pitches. This year he’s done a better job of commanding the pitch, even when it’s in the 91-94 MPH range.

Bradenton recently promoted Gregory Polanco and Nick Kingham, and last night we learned that Eliecer Navarro would be promoted to Altoona this week. Allie should replace Polanco’s bat in the lineup, and could move Jose Osuna to the outfield or split time as the DH. Castro and Rodriguez should take over in the rotation for Kingham and Navarro.

UPDATE 10:12 AM: A West Virginia press release confirms the Joely Rodriguez promotion. Jordan Steranka has been added to the West Virginia roster.

Eliecer Navarro will be promoted to Altoona.

The Pittsburgh Pirates will promote left-hander Eliecer Navarro to Altoona this week. John Eshleman was covering the Altoona Curve tonight, and Navarro was with the team. He is expected to make his first start this week, which will probably come on Tuesday.

Navarro had a 2.86 ERA in 69.1 innings with Bradenton this year, along with a 62:13 K/BB ratio. Navarro throws in the upper 80s and has a good curveball, a good changeup, and good control. He’s a small lefty who works more off control, so the jump to Double-A will be a bigger test of his skills than he was seeing in Bradenton.

Mike Zagurski has been designated for assignment. (Photo by: David Hague)

The Pittsburgh Pirates have added right-handed pitcher Brandon Cumpton to the 40-man roster for his start tonight. To make room, they have designated left-handed Mike Zagurski for assignment. The DFA of Zagurski also clears a spot for Cumpton on the 25-man roster.

The DFA of Zagurski doesn’t come as a surprise. In six innings he gave up ten earned runs and had a 5:8 K/BB ratio. The Pirates have two strong left-handers in the majors in Tony Watson and Justin Wilson. They also have some left-handed depth in the minors with Kris Johnson and Andy Oliver. It was good to take a chance on Zagurski due to his Triple-A numbers (2.14 ERA, 15.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 in 21 innings), but the Pirates aren’t in a position where they can give an extended look to a guy like Zagurski if he doesn’t initially perform.

I’m not convinced that Cumpton is only up for one start. The injury to A.J. Burnett leaves the pitching staff short. Jeanmar Gomez made his first rehab start the other night in Indianapolis. James McDonald has at least one more rehab start remaining. That would give Cumpton at least two starts in the majors. For more on Cumpton, check out my article from yesterday breaking down his pitches and development in the minor league system.