This one just doesn't add up.

Seneca Valley graduate Kevan Smith, a catcher with four years of major league experience, recently signed a minor league contract with the Tampa Bay Rays.

He became a free agent when the Los Angeles Angels did not tender him a contract as an arbitration-eligible player earlier this offseason.

Smith's first target for his next home in the big leagues? The Pittsburgh Pirates.

And why not?

His family is from this area. He played on the west coast last year, far away from family, and wanted to come home. He was surprised the Angels did not offer him a contract as he played well for them as their every-day catcher down the stretch last season.

At the same time, Smith saw this as a blessing in disguise. He and his family could finally return home.

So he reached out to the Pirates.

But they didn't reach back.

After saying he received “little to no interest” from the Pirates, Smith inked the minor league deal with Tampa Bay.

The question is, why wouldn't the Pirates have interest in this guy?

He hit .251 with five homers and 20 RBI in 191 at bats with the Angels in 2019. He is healthy. He seemed like the perfect candidate to share time with Jacob Stallings behind the plate and solve the Bucs' catching situation.

Instead, the Pirates signed Luke Maile, who hit .151 in 119 at bats with Toronto last year. They signed John Ryan Murphy — who hit .177 with four homers and seven RBI with Arizona — to a minor league deal.

Stallings hit .262 with six homers and 13 RBI in 191 at bats last season, very similar numbers to Smith's.

Smith is 31. Stallings is 30, Maile and Murphy are 29. It can't be an age thing. Not much difference there.

Defensively, Smith might be behind those other guys. But he's not a poor defensive catcher. And the Pirates could have landed him for ... well, he accepted a minor league deal elsewhere. You figure it out.

The Pirates have had Pittsburgh-area born and bred players on the roster before. Go all the way back to Ronnie Kline from Callery. Art Howe played for the Bucs, as did John Wehner.

Terry Mulholland of Uniontown pitched here briefly. Don Kelly of Mt. Lebanon — born in Butler — played a season here and is back with the Pirates as bench coach.

Then, of course, there's Pine-Richland's own Neil Walker.

There's always a sense of excitement when a local product is donning the Black and Gold.

Kevan Smith is a former Pitt quarterback and baseball star with the Panthers. He was an all-state caliber catcher at Seneca Valley.

He could have helped the team as a back-up catcher and power bat off the bench.

Seems to me the Pirates missed the boat on this one.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle