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Pirates, Freese reach 2-year extension
- Updated: August 22, 2016
PITTSBURGH — David Freese sat on a concrete block in the bowels of Dodger Stadium, expecting the question and wasting little time before answering it. Could he see himself staying in Pittsburgh beyond this year?
“For sure,” he said a little more than a week ago. “Absolutely.”
Having learned from an uncertain winter that became an uneasy spring, Freese cautioned that he wouldn’t worry about the coming offseason. Now, he won’t have to. The Pirates on Monday signed Freese, the veteran infielder and clubhouse leader, to a two-year contract extension with a club option for 2019.
Last offseason, Freese found himself on the outside looking in, waiting for a match that didn’t come until the Pirates swooped in and signed him to a one-year, $3 million deal. At that time, Pittsburgh considered its roster to be set and viewed Freese as a Trade Deadline expenditure, brought in as a bargain-value luxury to play third and first base.
Freese has proven to be a valuable addition and, in fact, one of the most valuable players on a postseason-hopeful team.
The 33-year-old first baseman has put together a productive year at the plate, batting .276/.355/.437 with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs in 107 games. He has been worth 2.0 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference.com, the third-highest total on the team behind Starling Marte and Gerrit Cole.
After packaging two prospects to trade Francisco Liriano …
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