Team clears up outfield situation by signing Taylor
TAMPA, Fla. — The final piece of the Pirates’ outfield puzzle has seemingly clicked into place, as the team has agreed to a oneyear, $4 million contract with Michael A. Taylor, sources told the Post-Gazette on Friday.
The deal is pending a physical.
When it becomes official, it will net the Pirates a Gold Glove-winning outfielder who hit a career-high 21 home runs last season with the Twins.
Taylor has spent the most time in center field throughout his majorleague career, with that position accounting for 6,248 of his 6,964 outfield innings, or 92.3%.
Pittsburgh’s signing of Taylor almost assuredly means Jack Suwinski will bump over to right, and the result should really help the Pirates. Taylor is an outstanding defender who has accounted for 72 defensive runs saved since 2015, per FanGraphs. Only four outfielders across MLB have been worth more.
When it comes to Baseball Savant and its outs above average metric, only 15 have surpassed Taylor’s mark of 17 since 2016 (the first year data is available). This past season, while playing in Minnesota, Taylor was among the best defensive outfielders in MLB, accounting for 5 DRS and 8 OAA.
Taylor, 32, has also played for the Nationals and Royals during his 10year career, during which he has produced a .239 average and .683 OPS.
Last season, Taylor hit .220 with a .720 OPS, collecting 14 doubles, 21 home runs and 51 RBIs.
An athletic, right-handed hitter with speed, the Pirates would seemingly want to tamp the swing and miss down a bit, sacrificing the power for a higher onbase percentage.
Taylor’s best mark in that department came in 2017, when he was with the Nationals and had a very productive year. In addition to posting a .320 OBP, which most closely mirrored Carlos Santana (.321) from a season ago, Taylor hit .271, had an .806 OPS, homered 19 times and stole 17 bases that year. Two seasons later, Taylor was an integral part of the Nationals squad that won a World Series, adding to winning experience the Pirates have signed this offseason in Martin Perez and Aroldis Chapman.
Taylor won his Gold Glove in 2021, when he collected 172 total bases and was worth 2.6 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference.
German signed
The Pirates have reached an agreement with Domingo German on a freeagent contract for 2024, sources told the Post-Gazette on Friday, adding a pitcher with a troubled past who’s been looking for a second chance.
German’s contract will be $1.25 million and it’s a minor-league deal bringing with it an invitation to major-league spring training. German will also have to pass a physical to complete the deal.
According to sources, the deal includes a series of performance bonuses for this season. There’s a $2.25 million team option for 2025 that includes more performance bonuses.
German spent six years pitching for the Yankees until he was placed on MLB’s restricted list last August following a clubhouse incident in which he reportedly showed up intoxicated, confronted manager Aaron Boone, flipped a couch and destroyed a TV.
Before that — and obviously much more seriously — German served an 81game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy when, in a September 2019 incident, he was drunk, belligerent and physically violent toward his then-girlfriend (now his wife).
After the most recent encounter, German entered an in-patient treatment program and has reportedly completed all of the necessary steps to sobriety. The only thing German needed was a second chance, and the Pirates and Angels seemed to be the two teams most interested in his services.
German, a 31-year-old native of San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, pitched in 20 games with New York in 2023, including 19 starts. He went 57 with a 4.56 ERA, walking 34 and striking out 114 in 108⅔ innings.