The Pittsburgh Pirates were reportedly interested in free-agent reliever Edwin Escobar earlier this week. Escobar is one of the exceptional cases of a once-great Major League prospect who failed to materialise and is currently attempting a return. Since 2017, Escobar has been an NPB pitcher.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ interest in the former top prospect made sense. He’s developed into one of the NPB’s better bullpen arms. He had a 3.21 lifetime ERA in the NPB. Thus, in trying to get back into Major League Baseball, the Pirates would be adding a much-needed veteran bullpen arm who has always had talent and was largely unknown.

The problem is that there was another team that supposedly thought along the same lines. There were rumours that the right-handed pitcher was also of interest to the National League Central rival Chicago Cubs. Anderson Vargas, a baseball reporter who follows players from Venezuela, provided the report.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, in true Pirates fashion, will not be the team that signs the veteran reliever. Escobar is reportedly going to sign with the Chicago team that is a division opponent. The news was reported by Luis Enrique Morales, but no specifics of the agreement have been made public.

There are just three spaces available on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster right now. It’s difficult to determine if the Bucs intended to use one of Escobar’s positions. This very well might have played a role in deciding how hard to go after Escobar. In any case, it is always disheartening to witness a player who is genuinely linked to the Pittsburgh Pirates sign a contract with another team. This is particularly relevant if a division competitor acquires the player instead of them.