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Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Low Risk, High Reward Free Agent Options

By Noah Wright |
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 3: David Robertson #30 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2018 New York, New York. The Yankees defeated the Athletics 7-2. Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 3: David Robertson #30 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card Game at Yankee Stadium on October 3, 2018 New York, New York. The Yankees defeated the Athletics 7-2. Zagaris/Oakland Athletics/Getty Images)
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Sep 2, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Brandon Workman (44) pitches during the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 2, 2020; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Brandon Workman (44) pitches during the ninth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in a situation where they can take on low risk contracts without it hurting them and these three could be free agents on their radar.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the midst of a complete rebuild. Even if they are in teardown mode, they could still use a decent amount of depth and can take risks on low cost deals. Currently, the free agent market has a handful of bounceback candidates and the type of low risk/high reward deals that can pay off in the long run.

Last month, I identified four potential low risk/high reward type players that could have been on the Pittsburgh Pirates radar. Today, we will take a look at a handful of more potential targets that the front office could go after. With that being said, let’s get into our first player of the day.

Relief Pitcher Brandon Workman

During the 2019 season right-handed reliever Brandon Workman was one of baseball’s most effective bullpen arms. Workman pitched to the tune of a 1.88 ERA, 2.46 FIP and 1.03 WHIP in 71.2 innings. Impressively, he allowed just a single home run while striking out 104 batters for a 36.4% strikeout rate. Free passes were a bit of an issue for Workman with a 15.7% walk rate.  Eventually, he took over as the closer for the Boston Red Sox when the likes of Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier struggled in that role.

Regardless, he still had a 3.33 xFIP, 3.78 SIERA, 2.86 DRA and 2.1 fWAR. Overall, he ranked 5th in reliever fWAR, 6th in ERA and led all relievers in HR/9. The next closest was Kirby Yates at .3. Workman ranked among the top 5% of barrel percentage (.7%), xBA (.178), xSLG (.240), xWOBA (.260) and xERA (2.81).

While some regression was expected, during the 2020 season Workman pitched in just 19.2 innings between the Red Sox and eventually the Philadelphia Phillies who he was traded to before the deadline. Workman pitched most of his innings in Philly where he allowed 10 earned runs on four home runs in 13 innings. Walks continued to be an issue for Workman as he allowed free passes at a 12.9% rate, but what made it worse was his strikeout rate plummeted to just 22.8%.

While Workman is coming off a down season, he is just a season removed from an extremely effective season and was a solid right-hander out of the pen before that. He’s not a hard thrower either and still averaged around 92.5 MPH with his four seammer which is right around where he has sat for the last handful of seasons.

He also throws a curveball with above average spin and a cutter. High leverage relievers, even rental ones, can bring back a decent return at the deadline. If Workman can prove he can still be effective in late innings, he’d be a nice piece for the Pittsburgh Pirates to have around the trade deadline.

Aug 29, 2020; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Shin-Soo Choo hits a sacrifice fly during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 29, 2020; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers left fielder Shin-Soo Choo hits a sacrifice fly during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /

Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo

The Pittsburgh Pirates have recently been connected to Korean left fielder Shin-Soo Choo. Choo was a pretty productive hitter in 2018 and 2019. Through 1325 plate appearances, Choo hit .264/.374/.444 with 45 home runs, a .354 wOBA and 114 wRC+. Choo has always been an on base machine as he walked 12.8% of the time between these two years and his OBP ranked 21st out of the 183 total batters who collected at least 800 plate appearances between the two seasons. Despite his advancing age, he still swiped 21 bases and only got caught twice.

Choo struggled throughout most of 2020. He only appeared in 33 games and collected 110 plate appearances as a right hand sprain kept him out most of September. All told, he only batted .236/.323/.400 with a 97 wRC+.

Despite his struggles, there’s a decent chance he could rebound in 2021. Choo still had an above average mark in expected batting average at .251 and expected slugging percentage at .454. His xwOBA sat at .324, which was above average, compared to his .304 actual wOBA. Choo also had a 90 MPH exit velocity mark. Choo did get a bit unlucky with a .284 batting average on balls in play compared to his career mark of .336.

Choo has never been a great defensive outfielder and it’s only gotten worse with his age. In the last three seasons, he has -24 DRS, -10.6 UZR/150 and -2.2 range runs above average. However, it seems the lefty slugger is open to seeing some time at first base and the Pittsburgh Pirates have guys like Anthony Alford and Jared Oliva on hand as potential late-inning defensive replacements if he absolutely needs it.

New York Yankees’ David Robertson pitches to the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning of Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in New York.Nyy Vs Bos Game 4
New York Yankees’ David Robertson pitches to the Boston Red Sox in the sixth inning of Game 4 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018, in New York.Nyy Vs Bos Game 4 /

Relief Pitcher David Robertson

David Robertson is another reliever that will be looking for a bounceback in 2021. The long-time Yankee late inning reliever missed most of 2019 and all of 2020 after needing Tommy John surgery. However, in the handful of years prior to 2019, Robertson was one of MLB’s top relievers. With 13.9 career fWAR, he’s been MLB’s fourth most valuable reliever since his 2008 rookie campaign.

In 2018, Robertson’s last full season, the right hander served as one of the Yanks’ set-up men. In 69.2 innings, D-Rob had a 3.23 ERA, 2.97 FIP and 1.03 WHIP. He struck out more than 30% of all the batters he faced for the seventh time in his career, posting a 32.2% mark, while only walking 9.2% of batters. Plus he allowed home runs at a 0.9 HR/9 rate, which was a very strong mark for 2018 as a pitcher who threw nearly half of his innings at a hitter friendly Yankee Stadium.

Robertson also had a strong 2.88 SIERA, 3.09 xFIP and 3.03 DRA. He’s also a spinrate darling, ranking in the top 98th percentile of fastball spin rate at 2566 RPM on his cutter and top 88th percentile in curveball spin rate at 2772 RPM.

Next. Keith Law Ranks Pirate Farm System. dark

The right-hander has never been a big velocity guy. His cutter, at it’s fastest, averaged 93.5 MPH in 2011. In most years, however, it averages out in the 91-92 MPH range. He’s set to put on a showcase for teams interested in his services on the 11th so if he can prove that he’s regained some of his velocity, he could be a nice buy low target who could be a very interesting deadline piece.

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