Kevin Siegrist elects free agency

Left-handed reliever Kevin Siegrist cut short a very brief stay in the Pirates’ organization by electing free agency. He had an opt-out clause that allowed him to do so if he didn’t make the major league roster by opening day. That’s a little different from what I thought; my understanding was that he could opt out only if some other team wanted to put him on their roster. That obviously wasn’t the case, but his opt-out was evidently broader than that.

I don’t find this too troubling. Siegrist’s velocity was down last year to about 93 and he wasn’t effective. In spring training he was down further, to the upper-80s, and the Pirates didn’t think his command was very good. This probably is no…