The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced that they signed David Freese to a two-year extension, with a club option for 2019. No other details of the deal have been announced yet.
Freese signed with the Pirates in early March as a free agent for $3 M over one season. In 107 games this year, he is hitting .276/.355/.437, with 20 doubles and 12 home runs and a 2.0 WAR. He has made 58 starts at third base, 26 at first base and even played a couple games off the bench at second base.
UPDATE 2:53 PM: Jon Heyman has the contract details:
freese: $6.25M in '17, $4.25M in '18, $6M team option or 500K buyout in '19 #bucs #bucks
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 22, 2016
At first glance, this seems very team friendly, considering what Freese has done this year. He’s guaranteed $11 M over two years. Meanwhile, the market rate for free agents is about $7 M per WAR, and Freese has been a 2.0 WAR player this year. The Pirates are basically paying for 0.8 WAR per year with this deal. And if Freese has his option picked up, it would be at the same 0.8 WAR price. Freese might provide more value on his entire deal in 2017 alone, especially if he plays like he has been this year. – Tim Williams
UPDATE 3:00 PM: Here were the comments from Neal Huntington in the press release:
“David has been a consummate professional while producing offensively and playing solid defense at both third and first base to help this team win games,” said Huntington. “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to extend that impact into future seasons.”
Alan Saunders will have more coverage on this deal later today from PNC Park.
UPDATE 3:04 PM: Heyman says Freese can make $1 M per year extra in performance bonuses.
freese could make 22.5M total including the $1M in plate appearance bonuses each of the 3 years (if 3rd yr is picked up)
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 22, 2016
I think his math is off on the $22.5 M, since the rest of his deal would amount to $16.5 M max, without the bonuses. So the maximum would be $19.5 M over three years, unless there are other bonuses involved which haven’t been announced.