With the Pittsburgh Pirates trading pitcher Jameson Taillon earlier today for a package of players, they needed to open up a roster spot to get two players on the 40-man roster. Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras both needed to be placed on the 40-man roster following today’s trade with the New York Yankees. One roster spot obviously came from Taillon’s departure, while the second one has been cleared by outfielder Troy Stokes Jr being designated for assignment. Stokes was picked up on waivers from the Detroit Tigers on January 12th.
Stokes, who turns 25 years old in nine days, has never played in the majors. He was injured last year, after hitting .233/.341/.385 in 95 games, playing in a high offense environment in the Pacific Coast League. He has a nice power/speed/defense combo, though he’s run into a bit of trouble since reaching the upper levels. He had a low average and high strikeout rate in Double-A in 2018, then his offense was well below league average in 2019, then he was injured last year. The tool package is there though, so it would be an interesting player to try to develop if he’s able to get through waivers.
