New Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz was introduced yesterday in a video call and said he’s finally settled down after being traded twice within about an hour last Tuesday, first from Toronto to Cleveland and then from Cleveland to Pittsburgh.
Horwitz says he’s excited to be a Pirate and to be working again with new Pirates hitting coach Matt Hague who was his hitting coach in the Blue Jays organization as he came up through the minors.
He’s also pumped up to play on a team loaded with great young pitching.
Horwitz played 97 games for the Blue Jays as a rookie last season, batting .265 with 12 home runs, 19 doubles, and 40 RBIs.
He’s looking forward to being reunited with Hague, who was hit hitting coach at both the AA and AAA levels.
The Pirates have hired their Indianapolis manager, Miguel Perez, as their new bullpen coach at the Major League level. He’s been leading Indianapolis for the last three seasons. Perez is a former catcher in the Pirates’ minor league system.
Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes has been awarded the second-highest amount of money from the MLB pre-arbitration bonus pool. Skenes will get a bonus of $2,152,057, according to CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa. The only player getting more is Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who will receive more than $3 million. Eight players will get at least a million dollars out of the pool.
MLB
The Cardinals’ Nolan Arenado has used his no-trade clause to block a trade to the Astros. The Cards are still looking for someone to take on Arenado’s contract, which pays him $74 million for the next three seasons. They were willing to pay the Astros $20 million of that salary in the trade.
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