The Pirates are known to be looking for corner infield help and free agent Randal Grichuk is one player they are interested in, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. They were also connected to Alex Verdugo in rumors this week.
Grichuk, 33, is coming off a strong season. He signed with the Diamondbacks for a modest $2MM guarantee, one of several veteran players left out in the cold during last winter’s frosty market. The Snakes mostly used him in a short-side platoon capacity, so Grichuk only got 279 plate appearances, but he made the most of them. He hit 12 home runs and slashed .291/.348/.528 overall for a 139 wRC+.
In his career, Grichuk has been better against lefties but also held his own against righties in 2024, in a limited sample. The D’Backs only sent him to the plate against a righty 95 times on the year but he slashed .242/.274/.527 in those for a 116 wRC+. His career line in that split is .242/.288/.449 for a wRC+ of 93. Against southpaws, he hit .319/.386/.528 for a 159 wRC+ in 2024, with a career line of .273/.324/.509 and a 121 wRC+.
Whether or not those improved results against righties are sustainable, it was a solid campaign on the whole and one that will likely earn Grichuk a raise. In addition to his offensive contributions, he’s also been a solid defender in his career. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have him an above average fielder, though they were split on his 2024 season, with Grichuk producing +3 DRS and -2 OAA.
For the Bucs, their search for outfield help is understandable. Bryan Reynolds is likely to be in left field and Oneil Cruz in center, but right field is wide open. Including Reynolds, eight different guys played at least 27 innings for Pittsburgh in 2024, the other seven being Bryan De La Cruz, Edward Olivares, Connor Joe, Joshua Palacios, Ji Hwan Bae, Jack Suwinski and Billy Cook. None of them took hold of the position and many of them have been expunged from the roster.
It was reported last month that they would be looking for corner outfield upgrades, though it seemed fair to expect them to keep the investment fairly modest. They have never been a big-spending club and RosterResource projects them for a $79MM payroll next year. That’s already pretty close to the $86MM figure they had to open last year, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts.
Despite his strong season, Grichuk’s market has been pretty quiet so far. It was reported last month that the Orioles had some interest in him, though that came out after they had already signed Tyler O’Neill and thus reduced or perhaps eliminated their need for Grichuk.
The outfield free agent market has seen some movement but there’s still more to come. Juan Soto, Teoscar Hernández, O’Neill and others have signed but Anthony Santander and Jurickson Profar are still out there, with those two looking for multi-year deals. Guys like Grichuk, Verdugo, Jesse Winker, Mark Canha and others are also available and likely to end up with one-year deals.
Given the Pirates’ history, they are probably going to end up with someone in the latter group. If it’s Grichuk, he could perhaps find a platoon partner already on the roster, as Palacios, Suwinski and Bae are still there and each of them hits left-handed. Palacios and Bae have been subpar against both lefties and righties in their respective big league careers but Suwinski has been solid against righties. He has a brutal .173/.264/.306 slash and 58 wRC+ against southpaws but a .218/.323/.442 line and 107 wRC+ the rest of the time.
