Pirates reunite with All-Star utility option as potential frustrating outfield solution

Ben Cherington was very active on Monday night, bringing in two left handers in Tim Mayza and Ryan Borucki on major and minor-league deals, respectively. He reportedly got after it once again on Tuesday morning with a signing of a former Pittsburgh All-Star.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Pirates reached a one-year deal with veteran infielder Adam Frazier. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com followed that by reporting that his contract was for $1.525 million.

It's barely any money. It's a familiar face. But ... if this is Cherington's solution to Pittsburgh's outfield vacancy (Frazier played 31 games in the outfield last season), then what are we doing here? Was Austin Hays too expensive?

Pirates reportedly bring back former All-Star Adam Frazier on a one-year deal.

Frazier was once a top prospect in the Pirates organization prior to making his major league debut in 2016. In that time frame, Josh Bell and Frazier were considered key parts of the future for the Pirates as they looked to return to the playoffs after their 2013-2015 window. That did not work out, and Pittsburgh eventually traded both of them.

2021 was the year the Pirates moved on from Frazier; it was also his lone All-Star season. Prior to getting sent to the Padres at the MLB Trade Deadline in a deal that included a Pirates wild card option in Jack Suwinski, he put up a 2.6 fWAR, coming from a 126 wRC+, a .324 batting average, and an OPS of .836. He also struck out at an impressively low rate of 10.7%. Those numbers were ridiculously good, but he fell apart at the plate in the aftermath, playing for three different teams on one-year deals after leaving the Padres.

That led to his 2024 season with the Royals, where he was a utility guy off the bench. In that role, he had arugably his worst season of his career at the plate. He posted a wRC+ of 63 with a .576 OPS and a strikeout rate of 20.1%. Those were all career lows, but he was still able to land a major league contract in Pittsburgh.

He has shown some defensive upside in his career, but in 2023, his OAA at second base was -15. At that same position, he had nine outs above average in 2019. If you ignore his actual defensive stats at the positions, he can play anywhere in the infield and outfield, which does help off the bench if he can return to competence.

Overall, there is not a lot of sense in this signing at first blush, but who knows? His plate abilities are similar to what Isiah Kiner-Falefa brings, who had a career-best first half with Matt Hague in 2024. Maybe that hitting philosophy will help him break out in 2025. All we can do is hope.