Pittsburgh Pirates Rumors: Team Connected to Veteran Hitter

One area of need on their MLB roster that the Pittsburgh Pirates have been looking to address this offseason is the outfield. While Bryan Reynolds is locked into left field, the rest of the outfield is a huge question mark.

It appears center field will be a Spring Training battle between Anthony Alford and Jared Oliva, while Gregory Polanco remains the favorite in right field. However, neither Alford nor Oliva have a large amount of MLB experience, Polanco has not been fully healthy since 2018, and the team has no fourth outfielder.

One free agent who could help remedy some of the team’s outfield woes is veteran Shin-Soo Choo, and, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been in touch with Choo.

During the offseason Choo has also been working on his first base defense to add to his versatility. The Pittsburgh Pirates could also use a back up first base man behind Colin Moran, and Choo could help with this as well.

The 38-year-old Choo is a left-handed hitter who owns a lifetime .275/.377/.447 slash line and a 123 wRC+. Choo owns a lifetime 12.1% walk rate, and his walk rate in 2020 was 10.2%. Choo has spent a lot of his MLB career batting lead off. The lead off spot is another question mark for the Pirates in 2021 that Choo could help with.

Now, as Biertempfel reported, there has not been much traction between the Pirates and Choo. However, it still shows that the team is looking for outfield help. It would be a bit of a surprise if the Pirates do not add outfield help before the start of the season.