For the first time in nearly a decade, the Pittsburgh Pirates were buyers at MLB’s trade deadline, and with their notable trades on Monday, the Pirates are clearly in a position to make a strong playoff push.
Perhaps their biggest trade of the day was acquiring relief pitcher Luke Weaver from the New York Mets.
Due to the flurry of roster moves via trades, there was a roster casualty in the process, and that came in the form of recently traded player Ron Marinaccio.
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Pirates Designate Ron Marinaccio for Assignment
GettyBALTIMORE, MD – JUNE 13: Manager Craig Stammen #14 of the San Diego Padres argues with umpire Chris Conroy #98 after pitcher Ron Marinaccio #97, foreground, is ejected from the game in the ninth inning for hitting a Baltimore Orioles batter at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 13, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. Stammen was ejected as well moments later. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)
Back in July, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded for Ron Marinaccio.
Now, he has been designated for assignment by the club and enters DFA limbo, where a few different things can transpire. The trade deadline has passed, so the Pirates can either release Marinaccio or another team could claim him off waivers before he either accepts or rejects an outright assignment to the minors.
Marinaccio, 31, has pitched in parts of five MLB seasons with the New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, and Pirates.
With the Pirates, he pitched just 5.1 innings and allowed four earned runs in the process.
MLBTR.com’s Charlie Wright wrote (on 8/3):
“The 31-year-old Marinaccio has pitched to a 4.99 ERA in 37 appearances between San Diego and Pittsburgh this year. It’s easily his worst season as a big leaguer. He was a steady option with the Yankees from 2022 through 2024, then put together a sub-1.00 ERA in seven games with the Padres last year. Marinaccio has a career-low 18.4% strikeout rate across 52 1/3 innings in 2026. His Stuff+ has tumbled to 94, and he has a discouraging 24.5% called+swinging strike rate.”
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Looking at Ron Marinaccio’s MLB Career
GettySAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 26: Ron Marinaccio #97 of the San Diego Padres pitches during the fifth inning of a game against the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day at Petco Park on March 26, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Ron Marinaccio has tallied 177.2 total innings in his five-year MLB career.
He holds a pitching record of 7-5 with an ERA of 3.60, so as Wright notes, his 4.99 ERA this season is unusually high.
Perhaps it’s a product of a larger workload, as his 52+ innings pitched this season are a career high. He has 191 career strikeouts over those 177+ innings, and a career WHIP of 1.244 with a SO/9 mark of 9.7. However, his BB/9 across five seasons is 4.3, which is pretty high.
As for the Pirates trading for Luke Weaver, he figures to slot in as the team’s closer after a very productive stint with the New York Mets in the first year of a two-year, $22 million deal.
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