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Pirates Announce Contract Extension For David Freese

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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:

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.

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.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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