Pirates Place 11-Year Veteran on Outright Waivers After Hitting .196

It's fair to say that he's never been an offensive juggernaut in his 11 major leagues seasons, but this year it was getting simply untenable. After hitting just .196 with a .541 OPS in 277 plate appearances this year for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Michael A. Taylor has been given his outright release by the Bucos.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are placing Michael A. Taylor on outright waivers, according to sources familiar with the situation.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) August 25, 2024

Now, to be clear, Taylor was not DFA'd (designated for assignment), which means he's still eligible to play for the Pirates until (they hope) he's claimed by another team. Pittsburgh signed the 33-year-old veteran outfielder to a $4 million contract for this season, so it seems somewhat unlikely that another team will step in to claim him.

Taylor is having a career-worst season, with his worst average (.196), on-base percentage (.256), slugging percentage (.283), OPS (.541) and OPS+ (52).

If he does go unclaimed over a two-day period, he can reject an outright assignment to the minors and not lose any of the nearly $800,000 still owed him on this year's contract.

Taylor was a Gold Glover as recently as 2021, and can still be a fine defensive replacement in the outfield, or even a pinch-runner, as he's still in the 79th percentile in Sprint Speed and Baserunning "Run Value" according to Baseball Savant, with an Outs Above Average in the 97th percentile.

For his career, he has a .235 average with a .671 OPS and an OPS+ of 80.