The Pirates have signed third baseman David Freese to a one-year deal, per a club announcement. The CAA client will earn $3MM on a straight guarantee without any available incentives, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on Twitter. Pittsburgh also announced that it has designated southpaw Jesse Biddle for assignment to create roster space.
Freese, who’ll turn 33 at the end of April, has settled in as a steady but unspectacular performer at the hot corner. After some strong offensive years earlier in his career with the Cardinals, he’s generally posted slightly above-average results. All told, Freese slashed a sturdy .258/.322/.401 with 24 home runs in 981 plate appearances over his two years with the Angels, who reportedly considered a qualifying offer this winter but ultimately allowed Freese to leave uninhibited. Though his line-drive and hard-contact rates both fell last year, with his walk rate continuing to trickle downward, Freese did still manage to significantly increase his ISO in 2015 as against his prior year’s work.
Much the same holds on the defensive side of the equation, as Freese has generally graded out as roughly average with the glove before and since a one-year downturn (2013, his final year in St. Louis). He is a poor overall baserunner and has had his share of injury troubles, though it’s hard to blame him for missing time recently after being struck by pitches.
It took some time for his market to thaw, but Freese will presumably step right into Pittsburgh’s Opening Day lineup. Though the team has Jung Ho Kang and Josh Harrison under contract as options at second and third, Kang has only just reached the point of straight-line running after suffering a serious leg injury last year. Indications were that Kang may be available within a month or so of the season’s start, but Pittsburgh obviously decided there was enough uncertainty to make another addition.
Even when Kang does make it back, it’s not hard to see the value of bringing in the respected veteran. It’s expected that Freese will eventually form the right-handed side of a first base platoon with John Jaso, Stephen Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets. He’ll also deepen the overall infield unit. Harrison took a step back in 2015, as did shortstop Jordy Mercer, and the other options on hand (glove-first shortstop Pedro Florimon, prospect Alen Hanson, utilityman Sean Rodriguez) all come with their share of questions and uncertainties.
Nevertheless, the move comes as a bit of a surprise, though MLBTR’s Steve Adams did name the Bucs as one of only six teams that made much sense as a destination for Freese as of mid-February. It is a bit unclear what Pittsburgh will do with Rodriguez and, especially, Michael Morse with Freese now under contract. The former is owed $2.5MM this year after re-signing, while the latter is largely a free-roll after he was swapped for another bad contract (Jose Tabata) last summer. Those two could still conceivably see time in the outfield, but there probably won’t be many plate appearances available there. Adding Freese also seemingly tamps down the likelihood of an early promotion for first base prospect Josh Bell.
Freese isn’t the most exciting player, but his ultimate contract still comes as a shock. Indeed, he’ll earn less than other recent players to sign, including fellow third baseman Juan Uribe, former Pirates first bagger Pedro Alvarez, and center fielder Austin Jackson.
As for Biddle, who was acquired in a DFA limbo swap earlier in the winter, Pittsburgh may be hoping tha the can clear waivers at this stage of the offseason. The one-time top prospect will be returning from Tommy John surgery and has had serious control problems, but remains an interesting project for whatever organization ends up with his rights.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Interesting fit, but it gives the Pirates the same infield flexibility as they had last year with Walker. I wonder how this affects the promotion of guys like Alan Hanson and Max Moroff.
Moroff wasn’t likely to get called up unless there were a bunch of injuries, maybe a September call up for the experience but not to be a significant contributor this year. Hanson is basically guaranteed to start in AAA now but should still come up at some point.
So who is the best FA now still on the market?
Probably Morneau if he still wants to play.
Mark Buehrle. Still technically a FA, hasn’t retired yet. Reportedly turned down deals in the 1 yr $15M range.
15 mil for buehrle?
You know what you’re getting with Buehrle. 1 year and $15M for him is significantly better than what the Royals gave Ian Kennedy – and I like that signing.
White Sox need to sign Buehrle desperately!!!!
great signing, the infield is almost as flexible as it was last year, but much cheaper now.
Wow Arte , couldn’t bring back freese . He will be missed in the club house
Yeah the 12 things guys on the team actually say to each other over the course of the season may now be 11
What does it have to do with Arte? They offered Freese 2 years, $18 million. Freese overvalued himself and now he’s paying the price.
Nice signing, place Kang there at SS, his original position in the KBO, and put Mercer in the backup role.
Exactly
Cheap addition. High ceiling for very little money
His ceiling is about 2.5 fWAR, its not high, but it is pretty decent, especially at that cost. Great move.
Halos made a bad mistake by not resigning Freese to play 3B which could have shifted Escobar to 2B and made that a plus position. Instead 3B and 2B are weak as well as the rest of their roster. Arte your team is awful.
I agree 100% with this comment.
I just looked at their projected starting lineup and they are clearly the worst team in the AL right now. All the prospects have to break out for them to contend. They have no depth, a bad bullpen and now Weaver can’t even hit 80 with his fastball? They don’t even look good at full strength, is Daniel Nava seriously their #2 hitter? This team is going to finish last in the West.
I think the A’s are just as bad if not worse, but yeah it doesn’t look good for baseball fans out in Anaheim. This is what happens when you blow your budget on stupid mega contracts.
but nava is hitting like over .600 I thought
Angels offered him 2 years, $18 million. Freese overvalued himself. He’s the one who made the mistake, like many other free agents did this winter.
Halos had the entire off season to modify their offer when there were no takers until spring training began.
Smart move
Good move
Great signing for the Pirates. For only 3MM the Angels should have re-signed him to play third and moved Escobar to second.
Good move. He will do well in the NL Central. Back in the discussion where he belongs and wearing his old high school colors from Layette in STL.
Good for him, hope him the best
This is actually the second time David Freese will be a Pirate. When he was a kid, his dad was the manager of the Pond Pirates. I was on the Ballwin Falcons. They beat us almost every time.
Pretty long lineup the Pirates have when Kang returns….
Polanco
Harrison
McCutchen
Marte
Kang
Freese
Cervelli
Jaso/Morse
NL Central ought to be interesting again.
may be the best value signing of the offseason
While it would make the most sense to plug Freese at 3B and push Kang back to SS (when he returns in mid April), Clint Hurdle showed last year that his ultimate preference was to keep Mercer in the starting lineup for his glove, even after the Aramis Ramirez acquisition. The fact that the Pirates have already stated that the plan is for Freese to platoon with Jaso at 1B indicates they have no intentions of forming a Freese-Kang left side of the infield. However, if Mercer’s bat starts off as slowly as it did last year, Hurdle may not have a choice. Either way, clearly a great bargain signing that immediately gives the Pirates much needed depth.
Glad David found a home. Pittsburgh will be as good as its pitching. Cole and Liriano are solid. But it’s a little questionable after that. McCutchen needs to have another Mvp caliber year to make this season a challenge.