According to Jon Heyman, the Pittsburgh Pirates are among a handful of teams that have made a contract offer to free agent outfielder Angel Pagan. Heyman writes that none of the offers have been acceptable and Pagan is currently playing in the World Baseball Classic for Puerto Rico.
The 35-year-old Pagan is an 11-year veteran in the majors, spending all of his time in the National League. He played for the San Francisco Giants in 2016, where he hit .277/.331/.418 in 129 games, with 12 homers and 15 stolen bases. A majority of his Major League time has been spent in center field, although he played almost exclusively in left field last year. According to Baseball-Reference, he has had a negative dWAR in each of his last six seasons, which is likely why he moved off center field at this point in his career.
Pagan is coming off a four year deal with the Giants, which paid him a total of $40 M, including $11,250,000 in 2016. The Pirates are obviously set for starters this season and top prospect Austin Meadows should be ready for the majors at some point this season. They don’t have a true fourth outfielder ready to step in, so that role will likely be filled by utility players such as Adam Frazier and Alen Hanson. While you can make a case that Pagan would help the bench, he would have to be willing to accept a limited bench role and a big salary cut to sign with the Pirates.
