TAMPA, Fla. — The Pirates added to their outfield combine Friday, agreeing to phrases with veteran heart fielder Michael A. Taylor on a one-year, $4 million deal, sources confirmed to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and Alex Stumpf.
ESPN was the primary to report the settlement, which has not been confirmed by the membership.
An American League Gold Glove Award winner with the Royals in 2021, Taylor has established himself as one of many sport’s high defensive outfielders over a 10-year profession with the Nationals, Royals and Twins. He hit a career-high 21 homers for Minnesota in ’23, batting .220 with a .720 OPS and 13 steals in 129 video games.
That speed-and-power mixture enhances a glove-first profile for Taylor, whose +17 outs above common are tied for the fourth most amongst certified outfielders over the previous 5 seasons. Solely three heart fielders have matched that complete over that interval (Trent Grisham, Kevin Kiermaier and Victor Robles).
Taylor makes his residing together with his legs, glove and arm. Final 12 months, he ranked within the 92nd percentile in fielding run worth, per Statcast, and the ninetieth percentile in arm energy. Taylor, who turns 33 on March 26, additionally ranked within the 84th percentile in dash pace.
For the Pirates — a 6-2 winner over the Yankees in Friday evening’s Grapefruit League sport — the acquisition offers an outfield improve they’ve hunted for a while, and it will appear to get rid of some roster questions that will have wanted to be answered within the remaining two weeks of camp. Bringing Taylor into the fold permits Pittsburgh to push Jack Suwinski to proper subject full time, with Bryan Reynolds entrenched in left. Reynolds was a full-time heart fielder as just lately as 2022, whereas Suwinski began in heart 112 occasions final season.
The Pirates have had a number of depth choices competing for the fourth and fifth outfield jobs this spring, notably Edward Olivares, Joshua Palacios and Canaan Smith-Njigba. This signing makes their paths to the Opening Day roster narrower. It additionally most likely means Connor Joe sees extra at-bats as a backup to or attainable platoon associate with Rowdy Tellez at first, relatively than in proper subject.
As a staff, the Pirates had their finest defensive season in years in 2023, rating fifteenth in MLB in staff OAA, per Statcast, their highest mark since ’18. They bolstered their rotation this offseason by signing MartÃn Pérez and Marco Gonzales, then in January made strikes to improve the bullpen, similar to signing Aroldis Chapman. Enhancing the protection behind these pitchers ought to assist their run prevention as nicely. On the very least, their roster now options two elite defenders at their positions in Taylor and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.