Simon is only 25, but has already been part of five organizations. He was traded twice as a prospect (once from the Cubs to Arizona, then from the D-Backs to the Rays), but didn’t reach the big league level until signing a minor league deal with the Marlins last offseason. Simon had a 19-game look with Miami, which unfortunately was most notable for a game in which he committed three errors at second base. That turned out to be his last with the Marlins, who assigned him to assignment a few days later.
Pittsburgh picked Simon off waivers and optioned him to Triple-A. He hit .284/.381/.436 during 248 minor league plate appearances and earned his way back to the majors in mid-August. Simon played eight games over the next two weeks before dislocating his left shoulder. That ended his season. The Bucs didn’t want to put him on the 40-man roster all winter, so they took advantage of the non-tender deadline to drop him without putting him on waivers. Teams will often check back to see if that player is open to a new minor league contract, as Simon was in this case.
The 6-foot-2 Simon hasn’t done much in a very limited amount of work at the big league level. He is a switch-hitter who owns a .287/.371/.436 batting line in nearly 1,000 career Triple-A plate appearances. Simon came up primarily as an infielder and still played on the dirt with the Marlins. Pittsburgh has billed him as an outfielder in their press releases and has only used him in the corner outfield or as a designated hitter in both Triple-A and MLB.
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