1997 Pittsburgh Pirates Trades and Transactions

Transactions listed are from October 1 of previous year to April 1 of the following year.

• November 1, 1996

  Traded Dan Miceli to the Detroit Tigers. Received Clint Sodowsky.

• November 14, 1996

  Traded Carlos García, Orlando Merced and Dan Plesac to the Toronto Blue Jays. Received players to be named later, Brandon Cromer (minors), Jose Pett (minors) and José Silva. The Toronto Blue Jays sent Mike Halperin (minors) (December 11, 1996), Abraham Núñez (December 11, 1996) and Craig Wilson (December 11, 1996) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.

• November 20, 1996

  Signed Steve Cooke as a free agent.

  Nelson Liriano selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers off waivers.

  Marc Pisciotta selected by the Chicago Cubs off waivers.

• December 9, 1996

  Drafted Emil Brown from the Oakland Athletics in the 1996 rule 5 draft.

  Wiki González drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1996 rule 5 draft.

  Jesús Peña selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 1996 minor league draft.

• December 13, 1996

  Traded Jay Bell and Jeff King to the Kansas City Royals. Received Jeff Martin (minors), Jeff Granger, Joe Randa and Jeff Wallace.

• December 19, 1996

  Signed Esteban Beltré as a free agent.

  Signed John Briscoe as a free agent.

  Signed Carlos Crawford as a free agent.

  Signed Manny Martínez as a free agent.

  Signed Keith Mitchell as a free agent.

  Signed Keith Shepherd as a free agent.

• December 20, 1996

  Signed Kevin Elster as a free agent.

• January 7, 1997

  Released Mike Kingery.

• January 30, 1997

  Signed Wes Chamberlain as a free agent.

• March 13, 1997

  Released Steve Parris.

• March 23, 1997

  Released Esteban Beltré.

• March 29, 1997

  Traded Trey Beamon and Angelo Encarnación to the San Diego Padres. Received Hal Garrett (minors) and Mark Smith.

• March 30, 1997

  Purchased Ricardo Rincón from Mexico City Reds (Mexican).

• March 31, 1997

  Signed Kevin Young as a free agent.

  Signed Luis Figueroa as an amateur free agent.

• April 22, 1997

  Signed Turner Ward as a free agent.

• April 30, 1997

  Traded Ramon Espinosa (minors) and Wes Chamberlain to the New York Mets. Received John Carter (minors) and Erick Ojeda (minors).

• June 3, 1997

  Drafted J.J. Davis in the 1st round (8th pick) of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 3, 1997.

  Drafted John Grabow in the 3rd round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1997.

  Drafted Kory DeHaan in the 7th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1997.

  Drafted Rico Washington in the 10th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 1997.

  Drafted Sam McConnell in the 11th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 4, 1997.

  Drafted Mike Gonzalez in the 30th round of the 1997 amateur draft. Player signed June 24, 1997.

  Drafted Bill White in the 33rd round of the 1997 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.

  Drafted Jamal Strong in the 35th round of the 1997 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.

• July 2, 1997

  Signed José Castillo as an amateur free agent.

• July 8, 1997

  Midre Cummings selected by the Philadelphia Phillies off waivers.

• August 9, 1997

  Traded Hal Garrett (minors) to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Eddie Williams.

• August 25, 1997

  Purchased Matt Duff from Springfield (Frontier).

• August 26, 1997

  Released Paul Wagner.

• August 29, 1997

  Mark Johnson selected by the Cincinnati Reds off waivers.

• August 31, 1997

  Received Shawon Dunston from the Chicago Cubs as part of a conditional deal.

• September 10, 1997

  Ramón Morel selected by the Chicago Cubs off waivers.

• October 15, 1997

  John Ericks granted Free Agency.

  Keith Mitchell granted Free Agency.

  Matt Ruebel granted Free Agency.

  Dave Wainhouse granted Free Agency.

  Released Eddie Williams.

• October 28, 1997

  Shawon Dunston granted Free Agency.

  Kevin Elster granted Free Agency.

  Dale Sveum granted Free Agency.

• November 18, 1997

  Jason Johnson selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as the 14th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.

  Clint Sodowsky selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 35th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.

  Joe Randa selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 57th pick in the 1997 expansion draft.

• November 24, 1997

  Signed Steve Decker as a free agent.

• December 2, 1997

  Signed Doug Strange as a free agent.

• December 8, 1997

  Signed Mike Williams as a free agent.

• December 10, 1997

  Signed Jeff Tabaka as a free agent.

• December 15, 1997

  Danny Young selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 1997 minor league draft.

  Released Steve Cooke.

  Purchased Javier Martínez from the Oakland Athletics.

• December 18, 1997

  Signed Steve Bieser as a free agent.

  Signed Terry Burrows as a free agent.

  Signed Jeff McCurry as a free agent.

• December 27, 1997

  Signed Kevin Tolar as a free agent.

• December 29, 1997

  Signed Ronny Paulino as an amateur free agent.

• January 7, 1998

  Signed Steve Mintz as a free agent.