Pittsburgh Pirates Sign OF Lonnie Chisenhall to a 1-year Contract

Bucs Dugout was first to report the interest, and now it is seemingly official: The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed OF Lonnie Chisenhall to a one-year contract worth $2.75 million.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed OF Lonnie Chisenhall to a one-year contract worth $2.75 million dollars. Bucs Dugout first reported this interest about a week ago:

And now, Ken Rosenthal reports that a deal is done:

Rosenthal goes on to note that the Pirates will add incentives into the contract as follows: $250K each for 250 plate appearances, 300-350-400, $500K each for 450-500-550-600.

The deal could get a bit lofty should Chisenhall hit some of those marks.

From our report on the interest last week:

Chisenhall is a 30 year-old seven year veteran left-handed hitting 3B/RF. His best season came in 2014, a year in which he accumulated 533 plate appearances across 142 games. He posted a 117 wRC+ and 1.6 fWAR that season. Since then, Chisenhall has regressed to an average hitter, though he did put together a 127 wRC+ across 82 games in 2017.

2017 also saw the beginning of something of a sojourn for Chisenhall as injuries limited his effectiveness. This cumulated in a severe calf strain limiting him to just 29 games in 2018. Having eventually been shut down, Chisenhall will presumably be healthy enough to be ready for 2019.

The uncertainty surrounding Chisenhall should work in the Pirates favor, as a one year deal to rebuild value certainly seems viable. Being a career 39 percent pull/40.7 percent fly ball hitter at PNC Park might help Chisenhall do just that, helping the Pirates out of a jam along the way.

Alex Stumpf will have more in depth analysis on this signing in tomorrow’s Bucco Breakfast.