The Pirates made a bullpen swap on July 23, 2026, acquiring Ron Marinaccio and designating Dennis Santana for assignment. The move came at 3:35pm CDT and cut loose a pitcher who had been one of Pittsburgh’s most effective relievers just one season earlier.
Santana, 30, logged 70 1/3 innings out of the Pittsburgh bullpen in 2025 and allowed 2.18 earned runs per nine, with a.211 batting average on balls in play, an 80.7% strand rate, a 22.2% strikeout rate, a 6.3% walk rate, a 3.21 FIP and a 3.68 SIERA. Pittsburgh still tendered him a contract for 2026 and agreed to pay him a $3.5 million salary, which made the fall from last year’s form harder to miss once the results turned.
That decline is what turned this into a roster decision instead of a patience test. Through 41 2/3 innings in 2026, Santana had a 6.05 ERA, a 19.9% strikeout rate and an 11.3% walk rate. For a reliever who had helped anchor the bullpen in 2025, those numbers left the Pirates with a straightforward choice: keep waiting on a rebound or use the roster spot on someone else.
Marinaccio’s arrival helps explain the timing. Pittsburgh acquired the right-hander after the Friars recently designated him for assignment, and the return included international bonus pool considerations. That kind of transaction usually does not happen if a club is merely shopping for depth; it happens when a team thinks the new arm is useful enough to replace someone already on the roster.
Now Santana enters waivers, and that process takes 48 hours. DFA limbo can last as long as a week, but the outcome here could come faster depending on whether another club claims him. If he clears, Santana has enough service time to reject an outright assignment, become a free agent and keep the money he is still owed. That leaves Pittsburgh with a new reliever in Marinaccio and an expensive question about what another team thinks Santana is worth after one bad summer.
