The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a two-year deal worth $11 million with third baseman David Freese reports Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball. The contract features a club option for 2019 worth $6 million and could be worth $22 million over three seasons if Freese reaches all of the incentives.
freese: $6.25M in '17, $4.25M in '18, $6M team option or 500K buyout in '19 #bucs #bucks
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 22, 2016
Freese has been a welcome veteran presence for the Pirates in 2016. Pittsburgh signed him to a one-year deal last offseason worth $3 million. The 33-year-old was coming off a decent season with Los Angeles in 2015 but has been even better this year. In 107 games, Freese has 12 home runs, 49 RBI and is batting .276 with a .355 OBP. Almost exclusively a third baseman his entire career, the Pirates have deployed him prominently at first base and third as Freese has platooned with both John Jaso and filled in oft-injured Jung-Ho Kang. With Pittsburgh three games back of the final Wild Card spot in the West, Freese has provided a consistency and versatility.
Contract wise, it’s a team-friendly deal for Pittsburgh. $11 million for the next two seasons for Freese’s production and veteran leadership is peanuts. The deal puts his contract in the same range as Yunel Escobar (two-year, $13 million), Trevor Plouffe (one-year, $7.25 million) and Mike Moustakas (two-year, $14.3 million). Freese will be making less per season than those three players. He’s arguably enjoying a better season than the trio as well.
The contract is a steal, as Freese could have made upwards of $7-10 million per season when he hit free agency. But, the Pirates don’t like to spend, and Freese took a discount to keep a good thing going in Pittsburgh, so I’m sure both parties are content with the deal.
