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Who Could Be The Pittsburgh Pirates Backup Shortstop In 2017?
By Marty Leap
A Potential Free Agent Addition
The Pittsburgh Pirates could always look to add from the outside as well. This could be via free agency or via trade. Most likely, if they went with an external option it would be a free agent addition. This is because backup shortstop is not a big enough need to spend the resources needed to add help via a trade.
One potential free agent would be Stephen Drew. In fact, earlier this offseason I wrote about why the Pirates and Stephen Drew would be a good fit. Not only would Drew bring the ability to play multiple positions, most importantly shortstop, he would also be a strong bench bat. He could replace Matt Joyce as the team’s best power pinch hitter.
Erik Aybar and Alexei Ramirez could be options as well. And Ramirez is a player the Pirates have been tied to in trade rumors in past years.
Ultimately, I would be surprised to see the Pirates turn to free agency to find a backup shortstop. I am guessing they will use an internal option. However, potential free agent additions are still worth discussing because you never know.