*Photo from Over the Monster*
The Boston Red Sox have signed OF Kevin Pillar to a one year, $4 million deal, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Pillar has passed his physical, so the deal is official. Pillar will likely become the 4th outfielder in Boston's rotation, competing for playing time alongside Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr, and Alex Verdugo. Pillar has joined the Red Sox in Fort Myers, FL, for spring training.
The 31 year old Pillar spent 2019 with the Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants, hitting .259 with 21 homers and 88 RBI in 161 games played. He also stole 14 bases and had a .719 OPS last season. Pillar is a career .261 hitter with 76 homers and 318 RBI in 851 games played. Pillar has been in the majors for 7 years, spending all of it with Toronto until he was traded to the Giants a few weeks into the 2019 season. Pillar debuted with the Blue Jays in 2013. Pillar's greatest strength is his defense. He's made several highlight reel plays in center field in his career, and amazingly hasn't won a gold glove. Maybe it's because he played the same position as Bradley Jr and Kevin Kiermaier of the Tampa Bay Rays, both defensive wizards in center field.
After staying quiet the majority of the offseason, the Red Sox have had quite a busy February. They traded away star players Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers, hired bench coach Ron Roenicke to be their interim manager, signed Pillar, avoided arbitration with Benintendi, and just won their arbitration case against LHP Eduardo Rodriguez. Pillar may get a chance to start right away for the Red Sox, as Verdugo may not be ready for opening day after dealing with a nagging back issue from last August.
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