PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have designated pitcher Trevor Williams and utility player José Osuna for assignment.
The team made the moves on Friday to create room on the 40-man roster for infield prospect Rodolfo Castro and starting pitching prospect Max Kranick.
The 28-year-old Williams spent five seasons with the Pirates, the last four as a member of the starting rotation. Williams went 31-37 with a 4.43 ERA in 106 career appearances in Pittsburgh. He put together a spectacular second half in 2018, going 7-3 with a 1.38 ERA over his final 12 starts.
The popular right-hander, however, was unable to build off that stretch in 2019 due in part to injuries and he struggled in 2020 while playing on a team that finished with the worst record in the majors. Williams went 9-17 with a 5.60 ERA during his final two seasons with the Pirates, including a 2-8 mark with a 6.18 ERA last season, giving up a National League-high 15 home runs.
“We felt like it was unlikely we were going to be in a position to tender (him a contract),” general manager Ben Cherington said. “Once we determined that, we felt it (DFA) would make sense. We needed a spot and it made sense to make that move sooner. It speeds up the process for him (by) a couple weeks.”
Osuna bounced around the corner infield spots and the corner outfield spots during his four seasons, with the Pirates. He hit .241 with 24 home runs and 88 RBIs in 276 games for Pittsburgh.
The 21-year-old Castro spent 2020 working at the team’s alternate training site. He drove in 73 runs in 2019 while playing in Class A.
The 23-year-old Kranick has gone 12-14 with a 3.34 ERA and 194 strikeouts in 51 appearances (47 starts) during his minor league career since being selected by the Pirates in the 11th round of the 2016 draft.
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