August 29: According to data from MLB.com transaction tracker, Heaney has officially released it.
August 26: Pirates announced on Tuesday that veterans Andrew Heaney Has been assigned as a job. His position on the roster will be at midfielder Oneil Cruzhe recovered from the injured list. Pittsburgh also chose an infielder Ronny Simon To Triple Indianapolis and recalled right-handed relief workers Dauri Moreta From Triple-A.
Heaney turned 34 in June and signed a one-year contract during the offseason to guarantee him 5.25mm. In early 2025, it looks like one of the best low-cost pickups for winter on any team. The veteran Southpaw ran a strong start, throwing 78 1/3 innings of 3.33 Era Ball on the first 14 bumpy trips. Heaney posted a 7.5% walk rate at that time, while the pedestrian’s 3-point shooting percentage was 18.5%, with a 1.26h/9 point improvement pointing to a certain degree of return – his FIP and 4.51 Siera at that time, which was more important than anyone could reasonably expect.
It turns out that a pair of seven consecutive poles fell off in mid-June was the beginning of a two-month spiral that Heaney simply couldn’t recover from. He has been beaten 43 runs (9.21 ERA) in the last 42 innings, with a strikeout rate of just 12.1%. Within this range, opponents average 2.79 home runs per 9 innings.
The Pirates recently downgraded Heaney to the bullpen, but the change in character has not proven to be beneficial. In his last two relief outings, he surrendered six times in 1 1/3 innings, including just one-fifth of last night.
Some onlookers may cynically typing Heaney’s DFA with Pirates’ 2024 decisive decision Rowdy Tellez His mission was when he showed up with just $2 million in prize money of four sets. Given the long-term nature of Heaney’s struggle, this looks like a very different situation. In fact, two-thirds of the innings last night proved enough to push Heaney over 120 innings this season (120 1/3 overall), thus freeing up a $50,000 bonus.
If the pirates keep driving him out, Heini can unlock further incentives. (He went home for another $100,000 out of 130 and 140 innings.) But based on his past two months, there is no motivation to keep the team giving him a chance. Heaney had enough chance to pull himself out of the downturn and couldn’t do it. Finally, he will earn 5.3mm of the contract, and what could have been taken will turn to young weapons that Bucs can control outside of this season.
Pittsburgh certainly tried to find a trading partner by the deadline, but even then, Heaney still led 28 runs in the past 28 2/3 innings. He has been tagged with 15 home runs in the last 50 innings. It’s easy to imagine that most teams seeking to pitch think they can get comparable or better results by simply sticking to their homes.
Now, with Heaney’s 40-man lineup, he will be put on a waiver. Whether this is a complete exemption or release of the exemption, it is largely irrelevant, as it is unlikely that anyone would ask for $932K remaining on his remaining contract after a fight of this scale, and he has plenty of service time to refuse a thorough task in favor of a free agency while retaining his remaining salary. Unless it’s a very surprising claim, he’ll be a free agent in the next few days. He can join a new club in the final month of the season as pitching depth, and if he signs with a new team by September 1, then technically he’s easily qualified for the playoffs – although he obviously has to rush to turn things around so he can be considered on anyone’s October roster.
