Jon Heyman is reporting that the market for outfielder Kevin Pillar is heating up, with the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates showing the most interest.
Kevin Pillar narket heating up. Red Sox, Pirates are among teams. Red Sox make great sense with all lefty hitting OF and Verdugo injuries in 2019.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 11, 2020
The 31-year-old Pillar began last season with the Toronto Blue Jays, but he was traded very early in the season to the San Francisco Giants. On the season, he hit .259/.287/.432 in 161 games. In 851 games over seven seasons, he’s a .261/.296/.405 hitter. He set a career high with 21 homers last year.
Pillar’s calling card has been strong defense, piling up 7.4 dWAR in his first three full seasons (2015-17) combined. His defense has slipped the last two years, and while he was still above average according to WAR (0.3) in 2018, he fell to -0.2 last year. A large majority of his games on defense have come in center field, though he played 27 games in right field last year. The Pirates are looking for a center fielder, so you would expect him to see regular time there if he ends up signing with the team.
If anything else comes up today, we will add it here.
