Pirates DFA Vance Worley to make room for Joe Blanton

The Royals designated Blanton for assignment on Tuesday to make room on the 40-man roster for Johnny Cueto.

The Pirates introduced the acquisition of Blanton final night time, as they traded for him with the Kansas City Royals for cash issues.

A former first-round draft decide, Blanton is 87-91 in 11 main league seasons.

“The Pirates love their flexible guys who can give them innings, so it’s clear they chose to address their current bullpen shortcomings – Arquimedes Caminero and Antonio Bastardo, each one-inning guys – by adding what’s basically another Vance Worley type to the mix”, Dejan Kovacevic wrote for DK Pittsburgh Sports. I’m not sure I’d bet on that, though. The move opens up a roster spot for newly acquired pitcher Joe Blanton. The Pirates become the sixth team that Blanton has played for in his 11-year career and his fifth team in the last four seasons (he missed all of 2014 after announcing his retirement from baseball before making a comeback in 2015). Blanton is 2-2 with a 3.89 ERA.

Maybe, though, the improvement Blanton has shown this year is real. Worley split the year between starting (eight games) and long relief for the Pirates. If Blanton is better than Worley down the stretch, and maybe he can be, then this swap will probably be worth it.