The Pirates brought back Ronny Simon on a minor league contract, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. Pittsburgh had non-tendered the rookie at the end of the season to drop him from their 40-man roster. He’ll presumably receive a non-roster invite to MLB Spring Training.
Simon is only 25 but has already been part of five organizations. He was traded twice as a prospect (once from the Cubs to Arizona, then from the D-Backs to the Rays) but didn’t get to the highest level until he signed a minor league deal with the Marlins last offseason. Simon had a 19-game look with Miami that was unfortunately most notable for a game in which he committed three errors at second base. That proved to be his final one with the Marlins, who designated him for assignment a couple days later.
Pittsburgh grabbed Simon off waivers and optioned him to Triple-A. He hit .284/.381/.436 across 248 minor league plate appearances to earn his way back to the majors in the middle of August. Simon got into eight games over the next two weeks before dislocating his left shoulder. That ended his season. The Bucs didn’t want to carry him on the 40-man roster all winter, so they took advantage of the non-tender deadline to drop him without putting him on waivers. Teams will often circle back to see if that player is open to a new minor league contract, as Simon was in this case.
The 5’8″ Simon hasn’t done much in a very limited body of work at the big league level. He’s a switch-hitter who owns a .287/.371/.436 batting line in nearly 1000 career Triple-A plate appearances. Simon came up primarily as an infielder and was still playing on the dirt with the Marlins. Pittsburgh has announced him as an outfielder in their press releases and only used him in the corner outfield or at designated hitter both in Triple-A and MLB.
