{"id":88674,"date":"2024-10-31T21:11:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-01T01:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=88674"},"modified":"2024-10-31T21:11:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T01:11:33","slug":"pirates-reacquire-tristan-gray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/31\/pirates-reacquire-tristan-gray\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Begin Offseason by Reacquiring Power-Hitting Prospect"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first offseason move one day after the World Series, reacquiring infielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/graytr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tristan Gray<\/a> on waivers. It\u2019s not the move Pirates fans were hoping for and is bound to draw cries of, \u201cHere we go again!\u201d However, upon close examination, it makes sense.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Pirates Claim Tristan Gray <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/IOMf7Kp90R\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/IOMf7Kp90R<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4G2bjchT9Z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/4G2bjchT9Z<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlbtraderumors\/status\/1852109731864646137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 31, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Pirates Begin Offseason by Reacquiring Power-Hitting Prospect Tristan Gray<\/h2>\n<p>The Pirates drafted Gray out of Rice University in the 13th round of the 2017 June Amateur Draft. He played 53 games in Low-A to finish out 2017. In the spring of 2018, he was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2018\/02\/22\/pittsburgh-pirates-trade-for-corey-dickerson\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">traded<\/a> to the Tampa Bay Rays with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/31\/dodgers-daniel-hudson-retires-world-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">recently retired<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hudsoda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Hudson<\/a> for outfielder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dickeco01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Corey Dickerson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gray, 28, bats left-handed and plays all four infield positions. In five years in the Rays system, Gray hit .233\/.307\/.448, 101 HR, and 353 RBI. Never a hitter for a\u00a0high average, he seemed to come into his own as a power hitter in 2022 and 2023, hitting 63 home runs over that period. The Rays gave him just a cup of coffee in the majors, however, calling him for two games in 2023. In those games, he was 2-for-5 with a home run.<\/p>\n<p>Gray became a minor league free agent in November 2023 and was immediately signed by the Miami Marlins. They waived him the following August when he was snatched up by the Oakland Athletics. In Triple-A in 2024, for both organizations, he hit .251\/.322\/.467, 19 HR, and 64 RBI. He made brief cameo appearances in the majors for both teams in 2024. For his major league career, he\u2019s 5-for-26 in 17 games.<\/p>\n<h3>How Gray Fits with the Pirates<\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s a good low-risk move by the Pirates, who drafted Gray before Ben Cherington became their general manager. Gray appears to be a mere organizational depth option, but he may come in handy given the Pirates\u2019 uncertainty throughout the infield. The Pirates presently don\u2019t have a major-league-ready <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/24\/pirates-2025-first-base\/\" target=\"_self\">first baseman<\/a> in their system. It\u2019s unknown whether <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayeske01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes<\/a> will continue to be <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/20\/pirates-hayes-injured-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">bothered by his back<\/a> in 2025. If so, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/triolja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jared Triolo<\/a> will slide into the third base position, leaving his Swiss-army-knife role vacant. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cruzon01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oneil Cruz<\/a> will open the season in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/08\/26\/pirates-oneil-cruz-center-field\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">center field<\/a>, likely never to return to shortstop.<\/p>\n<p>Second base might be a competition between <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gonzani01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Gonzales<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/y\/yorkeni01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Yorke<\/a>, and perhaps Triolo if Hayes is healthy. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kineris01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isiah Kiner-Falefa<\/a> is a candidate to play somewhere in the infield in 2025. Despite some thought that he\u2019s more suited to a utility role himself, that\u2019s not happening. He\u2019s due to make $7.5 million next year. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/30\/pirates-acquire-blue-jays-utility-player\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> have assumed part of it. Even so, that\u2019s not a salary the Pirates are going to pay for a bench piece.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, if Gray\u2019s minor-league power translates to the majors, the Pirates would be more than happy to find a spot for him, especially given that PNC Park\u2019s dimensions favor left-handed power hitters. However, as it stands now, it\u2019s unlikely Gray can survive spring training with the Pirates with so much competition. He&#8217;ll probably start the year in Triple-A Indianapolis, just a phone call away.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>Furthermore, with a full offseason ahead, this doesn\u2019t mean Cherington is finished hunting for players who can help in 2025. Remember <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diazle01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lewin Diaz<\/a>? Of course not! The Pirates <a href=\"https:\/\/throughthefencebaseball.com\/pirates-busy-offseason-continues\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">claimed him off waivers<\/a> from the Marlins in late November 2022 to compete for a spot as a first baseman. Ten days later, he was waived after the Pirates acquired <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/choiji01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jiman Choi<\/a> and signed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=santaca01,santan005car&amp;search=Carlos+Santana&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-10-31_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Santana<\/a>. Gray may well face a similar fate as the Pirates 2025 roster begins to come into focus.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first offseason move one day after the World Series, reacquiring infielder Tristan Gray on waivers. It\u2019s not the move Pirates fans were hoping for and is bound to draw cries of, \u201cHere we go again!\u201d However, upon close examination, it makes sense. Pirates Claim Tristan Gray https:\/\/t.co\/IOMf7Kp90R pic.twitter.com\/4G2bjchT9Z \u2014 MLB [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":88684,"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":[910,830,4809,6463,28686,3070,3605,28666,3434,1910],"class_list":["post-88674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-carlos-santana","tag-daniel-hudson","tag-isiah-kiner-falefa","tag-jared-triolo","tag-jiman-choi","tag-kebryan-hayes","tag-nick-gonzales","tag-nick-yorke","tag-oneil-cruz","tag-tristan-gray"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88674","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=88674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}