The Pirates have signed infielder/outfielder Nick Solak to a minor league deal, in keeping with the transactions tracker on his MLB.com participant profile web page. The deal presumably consists of an invitation to massive league Spring Coaching.
Solak, 30 subsequent month, was a second-round decide by the Yankees again in 2016 however has hardly ever stayed in a single group for quite a lot of seasons at a time so far in his profession. The journeyman was traded from New York to Tampa within the three-team swap that introduced Brandon Drury to the Bronx previous to the 2018 season, after which was flipped to the Rangers by the Rays in a deal that proved to be one thing of a coup for Tampa as they landed right-hander Pete Fairbanks.
Whereas Fairbanks went on to turn into a dominant righty for the Rays, Solak made his massive league debut for the Rangers in 2019. It was a formidable cup of espresso, and he hit .293/.393/.491 (126 wRC+) in 135 plate appearances for the membership. The robust displaying earned him a extra common function with Texas over the following two seasons, however Solak usually regarded considerably over-matched on the plate throughout that point with a lackluster .218/.350/.357 (88 wRC+) slash line in 744 mixed journeys to the plate. That led to Solak spending nearly all of the 2022 season within the minor leagues earlier than a season-ending foot fracture took him out of the image for the rest of the 12 months.
In the beginning of the 2022-23 offseason, Solak was traded from the Rangers to the Reds in a money deal. Whereas he remained with the Reds all through the offseason, he was designated for project by the membership as soon as it grew to become obvious that he wouldn’t make their Opening Day roster. That led Solak to trip the transactional carousel all all through the 2023 marketing campaign. He briefly performed for the Mariners, White Sox, Braves, and Tigers over this time, leaving him to be a part of six MLB organizations in a single calendar 12 months via a collection of trades and waiver claims. Finally, Solak lastly cleared waivers after being designated for project by Detroit in August and elected free company final winter.
Solak signed on with the Mariners on a minor league deal again in January, and whereas he didn’t make it onto the large league membership he loved a strong season at Triple-A Tacoma. In 90 video games for the membership, he slashed a decent .311/.406/.446 with a formidable 15.3% strikeout fee. Even within the inflated offensive setting of the Pacific Coast League, that efficiency was good for a wRC+ 20% higher than league common. Solak re-entered the open market earlier this offseason and has now discovered a brand new dwelling with the Pirates, for whom he can provide some priceless positional depth able to enjoying everywhere in the diamond. For a membership that sported the league’s third-weakest offense in 2024, a flexible bat like Solak that has had flashed of MLB success previously could possibly be a gorgeous bench choice or non-roster depth piece headed into the 2025 marketing campaign.
