Weekly Report: Bucs Land Lowe, Staff Finalized, Lots Of Alumni Changing Teams

Merry Christmas! Santa gift-wrapped an early package…

Pirates Stuff:

• The Pirates picked up 2B Brandon Lowe, OF Jake Mangum & LHP Mason Montgomery from the Rays and sent Mike Burrows to Houston in a three-team deal. The ‘Stros were reported to be after Burrows for awhile, but needed a partner to make the pieces fit. One of the Bucs promising crew of young arms, Burrows, 26, had a ’25 Pirates line of 2-4/3.94 and averaged a whiff per frame in 19 starts/97 IP. Lowe, 31, is the rarest of beasts, a second sacker with power. He’s in the walk year of his contract ($11.5 M), his glovework is meh and some feel he’s best suited to DH, so whether he’s a rental or more is misty. Magnum, 29, plays all three OF spots, is a switch hitter who batted .296 w/18 HR for Tampa in ’25 and is now part of the mix in the Bucs OF battle. Montgomery, 25, helps ease the lefty shortage in the pen. His ERA was 5.27 with the Rays last year, but his FIP was a more livable 3.92. His upside is 12 K/nine IP, and the downslope is giving up five walks per game. Both are controllable through 2030. To clear 40-man space, IF Tsung-Che Cheng & IF/OF Marco Luciano were DFA’ed. All-in-all, it looks like a win for BC and a long-awaited positive move for the fans. 

Brandon Lowe – Pirates image

• The Bucs MLB staff was topped off with Chris Truby named as infield coach and Thomas Whitsett as assistant pitching coach. Truby managed Indy before joining Don Kelly’s staff in May. Whitsett was pitching coach for Houston’s AAA club and will join Billy Murphy as part of the Pirates pitching braintrust. Shawn Bowman was named major league field coordinator after replacing Truby at Indy.
• Hat tip to IF Nick Gonzales, who switched numbers from 39 (Dave Parker’s #) to 3. 

MLB Stuff:

• Ex-Buc closer RHP David “The Renegade” Bednar will pitch for Team USA in the upcoming WBC.
• The Reds signed LH reliever Caleb Ferguson to a one-year/$4.5M deal. He was with the Pirates last year until the deadline, when he was flipped to Seattle for 19-year-old RHP Jeter Martinez. Caleb was solid for the Bucs during his stay; his line here was 2-2/3.74, tossing 43-1/3 innings in 45 outings.
• C Brett Sullivan, who had a cup of coffee with the Bucs last year (1-for-6 in three games) while spending most of his time at Indy after signing in mid-season, inked a minor league deal with Colorado.
• Justin Bruihl, a lefty who had a handful of not-very-successful outings with the Bucs in ’24, was  DFA’ed by Cleveland.
•  LHP Angel Perdomo signed a one year minor league deal with the Angels. He was with the Pirates in ’23 (3-2/3.72/30 games).

Osvaldo Bido – 2024 Topps Heritage

• RHP Osvaldo Bido, who got his start in Pgh in 2023 and then moved on to the A’s for two years, has been dropped twice this postseason but landed on his feet again, being claimed by Tampa Bay.
• Tampa sent RHP Shane Baz to the O’s for four of the Birds Top 30 Prospects and a comp round pick. Shane was part of the package the Bucs sent to the Rays for Chris Archer in 2018.
• 1B Josh Bell signed a one-year deal with the Twins. Minnesota will be his sixth stop since leaving the Buc nest in 2020. 
• LHP Brandon Waddell, who started his journey with the Bucs in 2020 and since has played for four other clubs in addition to three years of toiling in Korea & China, has been DFA’ed by the NY Mets