Pirates acquire Marinaccio from Padres, designate Santana
PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired reliever Ron Marinaccio from San Diego on Thursday in exchange for signing bonus pool considerations.
To make room for Marinaccio on the roster, Pittsburgh designated reliever Dennis Santana for assignment.
The Pirates, which are part of a congested race for a National League wild card spot as the trade deadline nears, made the move in the hopes of bolstering a bullpen that has faltered in key moments this season.
The 31-year-old Marinaccio went 1-0 with a 4.79 ERA in 33 games this season for the Padres. San Diego designated Marinaccio for assignment on Sunday when Randy Vasquez was reinstated from the 15-day injured list.
Pittsburgh will be the right-hander’s third MLB stop. Marinaccio pitched for the New York Yankees from 2022-24 before being designated for assignment at the end of the 2024 season.
Marinaccio was a former 19th round selection by the Yankees in the 2017 draft out of Delaware.
He has pitched in 141 games in his Major League career and has a 3.50 ERA over 172.1 innings pitched with 187 strikeouts and 83 walks.
Santana appeared to be the Pirates’ closer of the future after finishing with a career-best 16 saves last year, but the 30-year-old has struggled this season. He is 2-5 with a 6.05 ERA and two saves in four opportunities.
In his last five outings, Santana had given up eight earned runs. He was part of a benches clearing situation on Monday after a confrontation with Yankees shortstop Jose Caballero in what turned out to be his final appearance with the Pirates.
The Pirates claimed Santana off of waivers from the Yankees in 2024. He finished the season with a career-best 2.44 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 44.1 innings in 39 innings with Pittsburgh.
Santana also has stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and New York Mets.