Team trades for a minor league pitcher
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Pirates made a trade with the future in mind Thursday by trading for minor league righthander Nick Burdi.
The Pirates sent $500,000 of international bonus money to the Philadelphia Phillies for Burdi, whom the Phillies took third overall in Thursday’s Rule 5 draft.
Burdi, 24, had Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in late May, meaning he will not be ready to return to game action until at least June 2018 and possibly later. Because he was a Rule 5 selection, he must spend the entire year on the major league roster or disabled list; in this case, he’ll begin 2018 on the 60-day DL and have to spend at least 90 days in the majors once activated. If he doesn’t, the Pirates must put him on waivers, and offer him back to the Twins if he clears.
“We’re optimistic that like a good handful of Tommy John surgeries that it will bounce back from it,” general manager Neal Huntington said on the final day of the winter meetings at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort here. “We’ll be patient with it. We need to gather a lot of information here as we go through this process with him. But we are, we feel like it’s a good arm, it’s a good arm to have, it has a shortterm and moderate-term and then potentially longterm value.”
The Minnesota Twins drafted Burdi in the second round in 2014 out of Louisville. He pitched well at Class AA Chattanooga in 2017, posting a 0.53 ERA and 20 strikeouts — with only four walks — in 17 innings before requiring surgery.
Minnesota left him unprotected and the Phillies drafted him Thursday.
“We do like the arm,” Huntington said. “We like the upside, and we’re willing to carry him on the DL for a while if need, and we’ll go through that process with him.”
Pirates select Milbrath
The Pirates on Thursday selected right-hander Jordan Milbrath from the Cleveland Indians organization in the Rule 5 draft.
Milbrath, 26, reached Class AA last season. In 30 appearances between highA Lynchburg and Class AA Akron, he had a 3.02 ERA in 56⅔ innings. He struck out more than a batter per nine innings pitched but also walked four batters per nine.
“It’s a [arm] slot change last year,” Huntington said. “The velocity spiked. It’s heavy, heavy sink. A very high ground-ball rate. We like the slider and we’re intrigued by what he might become. He will come to camp obviously with a legitimate chance to make the club.”
The 6-foot-6 righty was drafted in the 35th round out of Augustana College in 2013.
The Pirates passed with their second pick Thursday and did not lose anybody in the major league portion of the draft.
In the minor league portion, the Pirates chose righthander Damien Magnifico from the Los Angeles Angels. The 26-year-old righty appeared in one game in the majors in 2017. He had a 6.24 ERA in 47 minor league relief appearances, most of them at Class AAA Salt Lake. He walked 6.4 batters per nine innings but struck out 58 batters in 53⅓ innings.
The Milwaukee Brewers traded Magnifico to the Baltimore Orioles for an international bonus slot in April, and the Orioles sent him to Los Angeles in May.
“He’s a guy that we’ve liked,” Huntington said. “We love the arm strength. Strikes have been a challenge. We actually talked about claiming him on waivers when he came through and opted not to at that point in time. To be able to acquire an arm like this, we thought it was a chance worth taking.”
The Pirates also chose catcher Rafelin Lorenzo from the Tampa Bay Rays in the minor league portion. The 20-year-old catcher posted a .666 OPS in the New York-Penn league in 2017.