CHICAGO _ After a half season of bad pitching and injury, Antonio Bastardo was designated for assignment Saturday.
The move removes the 31-year-old left-hander from the Pirates' 40-man roster. They have 10 days to trade or release Bastardo or, if he clears waivers, they can send him outright to the minors. But Bastardo has enough service time to reject such an assignment and still collect the remainder of his $6.5 million salary.
Bastardo made nine appearances for the Pirates this season and kept the opponent off the board in only one of them. He allowed 15 runs, 16 hits (five of them home runs) and nine walks in nine innings, good or a 15.00 ERA and a 2.78 WHIP.
He missed more than two months because of a strained left quadriceps, after which the Pirates stashed him on a rehab assignment for as long as they possibly could. He returned and made three appearances, his Pirates tenure culminating with a two-run homer from Kris Bryant.
The move also closes the book on the Neil Walker trade. The Pirates sent Walker to the Mets in December 2015 for Jon Niese, whom they traded back to the Mets for Bastardo, whom they had acquired prior to 2015 from the Philadelphia Phillies.
Phil Gosselin will take Bastardo's roster spot. Since going back to Class AAA Indianapolis June 15, he hit .263 with a .322 OBP and .350 slugging percentage.
