Notes: Spencer Horwitz For Luis Ortiz, Kennedy & Hartle, Maybe More Rotation Moves, Fulmer, Solak & Alvarado Signed, Team News

And the meetings result in…

Pirates Stuff:

• They pulled the trigger. Pittsburgh sent RHP Luis Ortiz and a pair of young LHPs to the Cleveland Guardians for 1B Spencer Horwitz. The 27-year-old Horwitz is a left-handed hitter who batted .265/.357/.433 with 12 home runs and 40 RBIs in 97 games for the Toronto Blue Jays last season. He was more than a rental with six years of contract control (four arb years) and an option remaining. The downside – he’s only made 425 MLB PAs and is a platoon guy, batting just .195 v LHP. Ortiz was 12-13/3.93 in 59 appearances (34 starts) in three seasons here with a 7-6/3.22 slash in ‘24. The two farm hands were Top 20 Pirates prospects. Michael Kennedy, 20, was a 2022 4th-round prep pick who averaged 10.2 Ks/nine innings in 18 games between Bradenton and Greensboro last season. Josh Hartle, 21, was a 3rd-round pick out of Wake Forest last year. And per Post-Gazette Pirates beatmen Noah Hiles and Andrew Destin, RHPs Mitch Keller (11-12/4.25) and Jared Jones (6-8/4.14) are also available if the right bat comes along (per sources, so caveat emptor). The consensus is that the FO is listening to but not actively seeking deals for the pair. 

• Pittsburgh signed 25-year-old minor league RHP Elvis Alvarado to a split contract. He had a solid ’24 season at Miami’s AAA Jacksonville club and then in the Dominican Winter League. Alvarado was placed on the 40-man roster after the deal became official following his physical.
• The Bucs acquired INF/OF Enmanuel Valdez, 26, from the Red Sox in exchange for RHP Joe Vogatsky. Manny has played 125 MLB games for Boston, almost exclusively at 2B, and hit .235. Valdez bats LH and is a platoon hitter with much stronger splits against RHP (.255/.109) and comes with an option remaining. He was placed on the 40-man roster. Vogatsky, 23, a reliever, is a 19th round 2024 pick from JMU.
• Also inked was OF/2B Nick Solak, 29. He has a .252/21/93 slash in five MLB seasons (255 games), but has been mainly a AAA insurance policy the past three seasons. Solak hit .311 at Tacoma, Seattle’s AAA club, last year.
• The Pirates agreed to a minor-league contract with RHP Carson Fulmer, 31, that includes an invite to spring training. Fulmer has been in seven organizations; this is his third shot with the Bucs, having been here for two stops in 2020, leaving via waiver during 2021′s spring camp. In eight big league seasons and 114 games, he’s slashed 7-15/5.38, although last year he tossed to a 4.15 ERA in 86-2/3 IP for the Los Angeles Angels.
• Pittsburgh passed on the major league part of the Rule 5 Draft Wednesday, and the league passed on them as no one from the organization was claimed. They took five guys in the minor league portion of the draft and lost three. 
• Staying home, Miguel Perez has been hired as the bullpen coach. Perez, 41, was the skipper for AAA Indy during the past three seasons, climbing the organizational ladder after several coaching stops in the system and managing gigs at Altoona, Greensboro, Charleston (W VA Power) and Bristol.

Oneil Cruz – 2024 Topps Mystical

• Oneil Cruz debuted in the Dominican Winter League on Tuesday.
• The team is optimistic that RHP Hunter Stratton, recovering from August knee surgery, could be ready for camp if his rehab continues to go well. 
• Paul Skenes was awarded $2.15M from MLB pre-arb bonus pool, meant to reward strong performers who haven’t hit their contractual arb stage yet. Skenes’ amount was second only to Bobby Witt, who was awarded $3M. Oneil Cruz made nearly $500K in bonus bucks while Luis Ortiz pulled in just about $250K.
• The Pirates hired Michael Voltmer to be the VP of Professional Evaluation & Strategy. where he’ll lead the Pirates pro scouting department. Voltmer spent nine years in the LA Dodgers organization where he was Director of Baseball Strategy & Information, assisting the MLB staff with game prep and strategies.
• The Bucs drew the No. 6 pick in the 2025 MLB Draft; the Nats won the top spot. The draft will take place in on July 13-15, in Atlanta, as part of MLB All-Star Week. 
• The team announced its 2025 promotion schedule for PNC Park. 

Other Stuff:

• The Braves signed OF/DH Bryan De La Cruz to a a split contract.
• The Rangers DFA’ed RHP Roansy Contreras. He’s gone from the Pirates to the Angels to the Rangers to destination unknown…