It was reported this morning that the Pirates are talking to free agent Ryan Church, with one report stating that a deal is close. I wrote last week that the Pirates should explore internal options over signing a free agent. For some reason, I never considered Church while writing that post. Church has a very good corner outfield glove and a league average bat. He is essentially an average player when he is healthy.
Church would be an upgrade over anyone the Pirates have to play right field at this point. If signed, he should push Garrett Jones to first base and Jeff Clement to the bench, a role he is best suited for. That would provide a marginal improvement to the Pirates lineup. Church is a much more interesting option to me than Rick Ankiel or Xavier Nady.
UPDATE (7:45 PM): Dejan reports that the Pirates have agreed to terms with Church. His signing will depend on the results of a physical later in the week. Due to his past injury issues, that physical will be significant.
They are signing him as a backup/insurance option. Clement will still be at 1B and Jones in RF to start the season.
Only if that experiment fails and Tabata fails will Church be starting.
It does give the Pirates a good option to avoid a situation like last year where both Moss and Pearce failed simultaneously, creating a major hole in the lineup.