1998 Pittsburgh Pirates Trades and Transactions

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

• 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.

• May 8, 1998

  Released Steve Decker.

• May 12, 1998

  Signed Rich Sauveur as a free agent.

• June 2, 1998

  Drafted David Williams in the 17th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 3, 1998.

  Drafted Joe Beimel in the 18th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1998.

  Drafted Jeff Bennett in the 19th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 4, 1998.

  Drafted Mike Johnston in the 20th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 4, 1998.

  Drafted Jon Switzer in the 26th round of the 1998 amateur draft, but did not sign the player.

  Drafted Steve Sparks in the 28th round of the 1998 amateur draft. Player signed June 3, 1998.

• June 27, 1998

  Traded Jermaine Allensworth to the Kansas City Royals. Received Manuel Bernal (minors).

• July 9, 1998

  Signed Tim Laker as a free agent.

• July 14, 1998

  Signed Scott Klingenbeck as a free agent.

• July 17, 1998

  Traded Esteban Loaiza to the Texas Rangers. Received Warren Morris and Todd Van Poppel.

• July 25, 1998

  Signed Rusty Meacham as a free agent.

• July 31, 1998

  Sent Kevin Tolar to the Cincinnati Reds as part of a conditional deal.

• August 28, 1998

  Released Steve Mintz.

• September 29, 1998

  Steve Bieser granted Free Agency.

  Mark Smith granted Free Agency.

• October 14, 1998

  Jeff McCurry granted Free Agency.

• October 15, 1998

  Scott Klingenbeck granted Free Agency.

  Sean Lawrence granted Free Agency.

  Rusty Meacham granted Free Agency.

  Todd Van Poppel granted Free Agency.

  Released Chance Sanford.

• October 16, 1998

  Miguel Del Toro granted Free Agency.

  Rich Sauveur granted Free Agency.

• November 11, 1998

  Signed Rich Sauveur as a free agent.

• November 13, 1998

  Signed Chris Coste as a free agent.

• November 17, 1998

  Signed Mike Benjamin as a free agent.

• November 18, 1998

  Traded Ricardo Rincón to the Cleveland Indians. Received Brian Giles.

• December 14, 1998

  Drafted Scott Sauerbeck from the New York Mets in the 1998 rule 5 draft.

  Released Miguel Ojeda.

  Traded Jon Lieber to the Chicago Cubs. Received Brant Brown.

• December 16, 1998

  Signed Ed Sprague as a free agent.

• December 18, 1998

  Signed Pete Schourek as a free agent.

  Released Tim Laker.

  Lou Collier selected by the Milwaukee Brewers off waivers.

  Manny Martínez selected by the Montreal Expos off waivers.

• December 22, 1998

  Signed Rafael Bournigal as a free agent.

  Signed Iván Cruz as a free agent.

  Signed Jim Dougherty as a free agent.

  Signed Ray Montgomery as a free agent.

  Signed Todd Ritchie as a free agent.

  Signed Chris Tremie as a free agent.

• December 23, 1998

  Signed Mike Garcia as a free agent.

• January 6, 1999

  Signed Jason Simontacchi as a free agent.

  Purchased Jeff Sparks from Winnipeg (Northern).

• January 15, 1999

  Signed Gus Gandarillas as a free agent.

• January 18, 1999

  Signed Todd Van Poppel as a free agent.

• February 20, 1999

  Signed Pat Meares as a free agent.

• February 25, 1999

  Traded Tony Womack to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Received a player to be named later and Paul Weichard (minors). The Arizona Diamondbacks sent Jason Boyd (August 25, 1999) to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete the trade.

• March 26, 1999

  Traded a player to be named later to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Tim Laker. The Pittsburgh Pirates sent Jason Ryan (June 1, 2001) to the Los Angeles Dodgers to complete the trade.

• March 27, 1999

  Released Rafael Bournigal.

• March 29, 1999

  Signed D.J. Carrasco as a free agent.

• March 31, 1999

  Released Elmer Dessens.