The Pirates aren't waiting for Aug. 3 to start shuffling the roster. MLB Trade Rumors broke the news Thursday night that Pittsburgh acquired right-hander Ron Marinaccio from the San Diego Padres, and the corresponding move was brutal for Dennis Santana, who got designated for assignment to clear the spot.
MLB Trade Rumors broke the swap Thursday night.
This isn't a blockbuster. Reportedly, Pittsburgh sent international signing bonus pool space to San Diego for Marinaccio, the kind of low-cost, low-risk churn front offices do constantly in the weeks before the deadline. Marinaccio has bounced around bullpens the last couple years and posted a 4.79 ERA with 38 strikeouts across 33 appearances for the Padres this season — not exactly dominant, but the kind of arm a team looking to patch depth can live with.
Santana, meanwhile, was the guy getting squeezed out. He'd been a reliable relief piece for Pittsburgh the last two seasons, but 2026 has been a different story — a 6.05 ERA over 44 outings that made the DFA more of a formality than a shock. Because he's got more than 5 years of service time, Santana has the right to reject a Triple-A assignment if he clears waivers, and with $3.5 million still owed on his salary, there's a real chance no one claims him and Pittsburgh just eats the corresponding roster fallout.
None of this screams contender energy, but that's kind of the point. The Pirates are approaching the trade deadline less like buyers chasing a playoff push and more like a team quietly restocking the pen with cheap, controllable arms while they figure out what the rest of the roster looks like. Marinaccio slots in as a middle-relief option who can chew innings without costing the organization anything of value beyond bonus pool money.
The bigger storyline is what comes next. With the Aug. 3 deadline bearing down, moves like this one are usually the appetizer — teams clearing 40-man clutter and testing the wire before the real headline-grabbing trades hit. Watch the Pirates' bullpen churn closely over the next 10 days; this Marinaccio-for-Santana swap reads like the first domino, not the last one.