Baseball insiders have been touting the Pirates potential for a breakthrough season this year, but the Baseball Prospectus PECOTA projections for the 2024 season aren’t impressed. The sabermetric rankings have the Pirates finishing last in the Central Division again with the fifth-worst record in baseball, 73-89, which is three games worse than last year. The rankings project the Cardinals to go from worst to first in the division, followed by the Cubs, Brewers, Reds, and Pirates. The PECOTA system gives the Pirates a .1 percent chance of winning the World Series.
The Pirates had hoped to keep Canaan Smith-Njigba after they designated him for assignment last week, but the Seattle Mariners have claimed the outfielder. He was DFA’d when the Bucs needed a spot on the 40-man roster after signing reliever Aroldis Chapman.
Smith-Njigba joins his brother, Jaxon, in Seattle. Jaxon just finished his rookie season with the Seahawks after he was their number-one draft choice last spring.
Pirates fans may have had catcher Gary Sanchez on their wish list and the team had expressed interest in the free agent, but he has signed with Milwaukee. Sanchez his 19 home runs in only 72 games for the Padres last year but had an average of only .218.
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