Count him among the Pirates prospects who were well-hyped, but never reached full potential. Liover Peguero, 24, is a light-hitting infielder who made his MLB debut with the Pirates in 2021 when he played in one game and went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. In parts of four seasons, Peguero has hit 11 home runs and driven in 36 through 96 games with a slash line of: .227/.278/.368/.646 with the Pirates.

Peguero’s outlook was high enough at one time that he was acquired by the Pirates along with fellow prospect Brennan Malone from the Diamondbacks in exchange for Starling Marte. Peguero hasn’t performed much better at the plate at the Triple-A level where he will most likely spend most of his time with the Phillies. In almost 900 plate appearances, Peguero is a .253/.317/.403/.720 hitter. In 2025, he hit .247/.313/.375/.688 in 75 games with Indianapolis.  

Peguero was designated for assignment about 10 days ago, cleared waivers and elected to become a free agent.

Defensively, Peguero has played 59 MLB games at short, 38 at second base, and 9 at first base. While he has played most of his games at shortstop, defensively he is best at second base where he has not made an error in 129 chances. His fielding percentage at short is .967, just shy of the MLB average of .975.

Rodolfo Castro and Rafael Lantigua, who formed the middle infield combo last season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, are both free agents. While Peguero signed a minor league deal, it is likely he will be invited to big league camp in Clearwater for spring training.