The Pirates are recognized to be searching for nook infield assist and free agent Randal Grichuk is one participant they’re involved in, studies Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. They have been additionally linked to Alex Verdugo in rumors this week.
Grichuk, 33, is coming off a powerful season. He signed with the Diamondbacks for a modest $2MM assure, considered one of a number of veteran gamers overlooked within the chilly throughout final winter’s frosty market. The Snakes largely used him in a short-side platoon capability, so Grichuk solely received 279 plate appearances, however he made essentially the most of them. He hit 12 residence runs and slashed .291/.348/.528 total for a 139 wRC+.
In his profession, Grichuk has been higher towards lefties but additionally held his personal towards righties in 2024, in a restricted pattern. The D’Backs solely despatched him to the plate towards a righty 95 instances on the yr however he slashed .242/.274/.527 in these for a 116 wRC+. His profession line in that cut up is .242/.288/.449 for a wRC+ of 93. Towards southpaws, he hit .319/.386/.528 for a 159 wRC+ in 2024, with a profession line of .273/.324/.509 and a 121 wRC+.
Whether or not or not these improved outcomes towards righties are sustainable, it was a strong marketing campaign on the entire and one that may doubtless earn Grichuk a increase. Along with his offensive contributions, he’s additionally been a strong defender in his profession. Each Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Common have him an above common fielder, although they have been cut up on his 2024 season, with Grichuk producing +3 DRS and -2 OAA.
For the Bucs, their seek for outfield assistance is comprehensible. Bryan Reynolds is prone to be in left subject and Oneil Cruz in heart, however proper subject is broad open. Together with Reynolds, eight totally different guys performed at the least 27 innings for Pittsburgh in 2024, the opposite seven being Bryan De La Cruz, Edward Olivares, Connor Joe, Joshua Palacios, Ji Hwan Bae, Jack Suwinski and Billy Prepare dinner. None of them took maintain of the place and plenty of of them have been expunged from the roster.
It was reported final month that they might be searching for nook outfield upgrades, although it appeared truthful to anticipate them to maintain the funding pretty modest. They’ve by no means been a big-spending membership and RosterResource tasks them for a $79MM payroll subsequent yr. That’s already fairly near the $86MM determine they needed to open final yr, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
Regardless of his sturdy season, Grichuk’s market has been fairly quiet up to now. It was reported final month that the Orioles had some curiosity in him, although that got here out after that they had already signed Tyler O’Neill and thus diminished or maybe eradicated their want for Grichuk.
The outfield free agent market has seen some motion however there’s nonetheless extra to come back. Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernández, O’Neill and others have signed however Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are nonetheless on the market, with these two searching for multi-year offers. Guys like Grichuk, Verdugo, Jesse Winker, Mark Canha and others are additionally out there and prone to find yourself with one-year offers.
Given the Pirates’ historical past, they’re most likely going to finish up with somebody within the latter group. If it’s Grichuk, he may maybe discover a platoon associate already on the roster, as Palacios, Suwinski and Bae are nonetheless there and every of them hits left-handed. Palacios and Bae have been subpar towards each lefties and righties of their respective huge league careers however Suwinski has been strong towards righties. He has a brutal .173/.264/.306 slash and 58 wRC+ towards southpaws however a .218/.323/.442 line and 107 wRC+ the remainder of the time.