Neal Huntington, Clint Hurdle discuss Pirates roster moves

MILWAUKEE -- Why Elias Diaz rather than Tony Sanchez? Why no Vance Worley? What’s up with Pedro Florimon? And are any of these guys playoff eligible? 

Here are some answers from Clint Hurdle and Neal Huntington.

On why Diaz, who has no major league experience, as a third catcher instead of Sanchez?

Hurdle: “At the end of the day, based on performance.”

Huntington: “As we looked at how we would anticipate that player being used, it's going to be more likely a late-game defensive replacement. We think the world of what Elias can do defensively with his receiving, blocking, throwing. We feel that he's taken steps ahead of Tony on that front. Love Tony's offense and what he's capable of doing, but as we looked at the big picture of how that role may fit, as we try to win a game, we felt that the defense was going to be more important than the offense.”

Why no Worley?

Hurdle: “I do think there's going to be an opportunity. We've wanted to keep one man in rotation, to continue to pitch, in case somebody went down at any given time. A guy would have 100 pitches in his pocket. Vance threw eight innings last night, so there's a real good opportunity that he'll rejoin us.”

Huntington: “Vance's value to us as a starting pitcher probably works against him in that we want to keep him starting, want to keep getting him stretched out. While he's done very well at Indy, it's still just a handful of starts and rather than bring him into the bullpen mix here and have him not pitch for a handful of days, we want to keep him starting and keep him stretched out.”

What’s the status of Florimon, who is physically with the Pirates but not on the 25-man or 40-man rosters?

Huntington: “He's actually transferred to Bristol. Their season ends tonight, which would technically make him eligible to be selected tomorrow.”

(This eliminates the 10-day period a player usually must spend in the minors after being optioned or sent outright.)

These guys weren’t called up before Aug. 31. Are they playoff-eligible?

Huntington: “The rule changed for last playoff season, for last year. They simplified it. ... Clubs were getting creative in expanding their playoff-eligible roster, we were one of them, and Major League Baseball made a good move. Essentially, everybody who's on your 40-man roster is now eligible directly for your postseason roster. Anybody not on your 40-man roster but who was in your organization as of Aug. 31, midnight last night, is eligible to replace a player physically unable to play in a postseason game.”

This means that Jaff Decker, Bobby LaFromboise, Diaz and Rob Scahill are automatically eligible, while Travis Snider and Radhames Liz would need to replace an injured player. But they can replace Andrew Lambo, Brandon Cumpton or Corey Hart, who are on the 60-day DL.