{"id":109152,"date":"2025-11-04T23:17:22","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=109152"},"modified":"2025-11-04T23:17:22","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T04:17:22","slug":"sources-pirates-place-former-prospects-peguero-bae-waivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/11\/04\/sources-pirates-place-former-prospects-peguero-bae-waivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Sources: Pirates Place Two Former Prospects on Waivers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates have placed shortstop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pegueli01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Liover Peguero<\/a> and outfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/baeji01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ji Hwan Bae<\/a> on waivers, according to sources. Danny Demillo of <em>Pittsburgh Baseball Now<\/em> and Colin Beazley of the <em>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em> broke the news. Additionally, right-handed pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=littlja02,littlja01,little008jac&amp;search=Jack+Little&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jack Little<\/a> was also placed on waivers, according to Beazley.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_97366\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-97366\" style=\"width: 790px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-97366\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25641428_168400885_lowres-300x208.jpg\" alt=\"Ji Hwan Bae's impressive numbers are one interesting storyline to emerge out of Pirates spring camp.\" width=\"790\" height=\"548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25641428_168400885_lowres-300x208.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25641428_168400885_lowres-1024x710.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25641428_168400885_lowres-768x533.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25641428_168400885_lowres-1536x1065.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/03\/USATSI_25641428_168400885_lowres-2048x1420.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 790px) 100vw, 790px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-97366\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mar 11, 2025; Bradenton, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Ji Hwan Bae (3) singles during the third inning against the New York Yankees at LECOM Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Pirates Place Former Prospects Peguero and Bae on Waivers<\/h2>\n<p>However, it\u2019s the Pirates\u2019 willingness to move on from Peguero and Bae that\u2019s the big story here. As the Pirates enter the seventh year of the Ben Cherington Era, it\u2019s clear that they have to change the way they do business. Whether these moves signal that radical changes are in store remains to be seen. Both players represented an \u201cold guard\u201d that failed with numerous opportunities.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pirates Place Ji Hwan Bae, Liover Peguero, Jack Little On Waivers <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LsLIFpz7mr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/LsLIFpz7mr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors (@mlbtrpirates) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlbtrpirates\/status\/1985879633183871051?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Out with Peguero<\/h3>\n<p>In his first move as Pirates general manager in January 2020, Cherington acquired Peguero from the Arizona Diamondbacks in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2020\/01\/27\/starling-marte-heads-to-arizona-diamondbacks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">deal<\/a> that sent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/martest01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Starling Marte<\/a> to the desert. At the time, Peguero was Arizona\u2019s No. 6 prospect. Although <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cruzon01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oneil Cruz<\/a> was also in the system, he was a Neal Huntington acquisition. It was thought that Peguero would be groomed as the shortstop of the future.<\/p>\n<p>That never came to fruition, however. In seven minor league seasons, Peguero posted a rather pedestrian stat line of .266\/.325\/.416, 62 HR, and 320 RBI. He got a taste of the majors every season since 2022, but never stuck around for a full season, and showed only flashes of promise. Over those four seasons, he slashed 227\/.278\/.368 while providing only average defense. In 2023, he surprised by belting seven home runs in 59 games. However, that earned him only a three-game callup in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, Peguero began to see action in the outfield and at first base at Triple-A Indianapolis in an attempt to give him more versatility. That\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kissonline.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">kiss<\/a> of death for one hoping to hook onto a major league job as a regular. The Pirates <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/18\/pirates-recall-shortstop-liover-peguero-after-frazier-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">brought him up<\/a> in mid-July after they <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/16\/royals-trade-pirates-frazier\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">traded<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fraziad01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Adam Frazier<\/a> to Kansas City. They tried Peguero as a right-handed platoon option at first base. That experiment yielded little other than Peguero\u2019s three-home-run game in Colorado on August 2. But after producing a .200\/.273\/.363 stat line, he was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/18\/pirates-roster-moves-flores-perguero\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">returned<\/a> to Indianapolis on September 18.<\/p>\n<h3>Out with Bae<\/h3>\n<p>Bae, 26, is an older prospect compared to Peguero, 24. He\u2019s been an enigma since the Pirates signed him in 2018. The speedster plays the outfield and middle infield, although he was used exclusively as an outfielder in 2025. There, he makes the occasional highlight-reel play, but the Pirates needed more than that from him.<\/p>\n<p>Bae showed tremendous on-base skills in the minors, where he slashed .302\/.385\/.434 over seven seasons. No doubt the Pirates&#8217; brain trust drooled over the prospect of those skills translating to the majors, coupled with his speed, but it never materialized. In the majors, he showed an alarming tendency to chase pitches. Like Peguero, he was with the Pirates every year since 2022 but never for a full season. His career major league stat line is a meager .223\/.294\/.293, with a 25.5 strikeout rate being a contributing factor.<\/p>\n<p>It seemed that the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/09\/pirates-new-manager-kelly\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">firing<\/a> of manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sheltde99.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Shelton<\/a> was a life preserver for Bae. In May, Bae was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/09\/pirates-recall-ji-hwan-bae-first-move-kelly-era\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">recalled<\/a> in the first move of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellydo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-04_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Don Kelly<\/a> Era but failed to impress. He was returned to Indy right away, and a second chance in September didn\u2019t go much better. \u00a0He was 1-for-20 with nine strikeouts in the majors this past season.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>If either player clears waivers, he can choose to remain Pirates property or declare free agency. However, in both cases, they\u2019d be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/09\/02\/four-pirates-who-better\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">better off<\/a> with a fresh start elsewhere. Given their ages and former pedigree, it\u2019s easy to imagine another team taking a flyer on them.<\/p>\n<p>Little never got a chance with the Pirates after they picked him up on a waiver claim from the Los Angeles Dodgers in August. They appeared to have little interest in him (no pun intended) despite the 2.79 ERA the right-hander posted in 14 games at Indy.<\/p>\n<p>The Pirates now have a full 40-man roster, but there&#8217;s more work to be done.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates have placed shortstop Liover Peguero and outfielder Ji Hwan Bae on waivers, according to sources. Danny Demillo of Pittsburgh Baseball Now and Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette broke the news. Additionally, right-handed pitcher Jack Little was also placed on waivers, according to Beazley. Pirates Place Former Prospects Peguero and Bae on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":99927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071,35],"tags":[1103,3160,28961,6221,3329,3434,612],"class_list":["post-109152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-adam-frazier","tag-derek-shelton","tag-don-kelly","tag-ji-hwan-bae","tag-liover-peguero","tag-oneil-cruz","tag-starling-marte"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109152"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109164,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109152\/revisions\/109164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}