*Photo from Twins Daily*
Here's another free agent move. OF Michael A Taylor and the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a one year, $4 million contract, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. The move has been confirmed by the team.
Taylor brings an incredible defensive profile to center field for the Pirates. Over the past 5 seasons, he has accumulated 17 outs above average, good for the 4th most among qualified outfielders in that time. He ranked in the 92nd percentile in fielding run value last year and the 90th percentile in arm strength while also relying on his speed to track down balls.
Last season, Taylor suited up for the Minnesota Twins after being traded from the Kansas City Royals. He posted a .220/.278/.442 slash line with a 92 OPS+, hitting a career high 21 home runs to go with 14 doubles and 51 RBI's in 129 games. He had two hits in 14 plate appearances over 5 playoff games.
Taylor immediately slots into the starting center field job for the Pirates, with Jack Suwinski able to cover right field and Bryan Reynolds in left. He was a part of the Washington Nationals 2019 World Series championship team and his defensive skills saw him win a gold glove in 2021.
In 2023, the Pirates had their best defensive season as a team since 2018 thanks to ranking 15th in the majors in outs above average. Taylor certainly helps team defense even more as the Pirates also added some pitching help to try and improve off their 2023 season.
Over 10 seasons in the majors, Taylor has played for the Twins, Nationals, and Kansas City Royals since debuting in 2014. He has a .239/.294/.389 slash line with an 83 OPS+ to his name, hitting 95 home runs and 127 doubles to go with 108 stolen bases and 332 RBI's in 969 games. He has 4 home runs and 10 RBI's to go with a .275 batting average and .351 on base percentage in 21 playoff games.
The addition of Taylor caps a busy offseason for the Pirates, as they extended pitcher Mitch Keller and re-signed outfielder Andrew McCutchen. They also added Yasmani Grandal, Aroldis Chapman, Martin Perez, Rowdy Tellez, and Marco Gonzales.
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