Angel Basabe

ANGEL BASABE, CENTER FIELDER
Born: December 12, 2000
Height: 6’0″
Weight: 153
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Signed: Int’l Free Agent, 2017, Pittsburgh Pirates
How Acquired: International Free Agent
Country: Venezuela
Agent: N/A

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE
Basabe was one of the Pirates’ two big 2017-18 international signings, the other being Juan Pie.  (The caveat here is that the bonuses of Venezuelan players are being kept confidential for safety reasons, so we don’t know the bonuses of the Pirates’ signees from that country.  We only know Basabe’s because he moved to Panama before he signed.)  He’s an outfielder with good speed, who may be able to stick in center field, and a line drive bat.

2018
DSL:  260/341/414, 181 AB, 9 2B, 5 3B, 3 HR, 21 BB, 46 K, 8-13 SB

Basabe’s debut was oddly similar to Pie’s.  He tore up the DSL in the early going, then slumped.  Basabe’s OPS by month, from June through August, was 1.001, .779 and .537.  Overall, he showed good gap power and had a decent walk rate, but he also had a high K rate.  He had trouble with LHPs, with just a .644 OPS in an extremely small sample size of 29 at-bats.  He played center almost exclusively.

2019
R:  210/278/303, 119 AB, 5 2B, 3 3B, 9 BB, 30 K, 4-6 SB
A-:  000/167/000, 5 AB, 1 BB, 2 K

The Pirates sent Basabe briefly to West Virginia, until the draftees arrived, and then assigned him to the GCL.  He struggled to hit there and put up a poor BB:K ratio.  It may not have helped that he played only two-thirds of the time, due to an extreme logjam of outfielders on the team.  He got fewer than six innings in center, possibly due to the presence of other outfielders whom the Pirates regarded more highly.

2020
DNP

2021
R:  214/314/308, 119 AB, 5 2B, 3 3B, 11 BB, 28 K 5-5 SB

Basabe returned to rookie ball, where his hitting was nearly identical to 2019.  He played mostly in left.

2022
A:  257/353/378, 74 AB, 1 2B, 4 3B, 10 BB, 13 K, 3-5 SB
A+:  130/130/304, 23 AB, 1 2B, 1 HR, 8 K, 2-2 SB

The Pirates sent Basabe to Bradenton at the end of May.  He played sporadically there, depending on injuries and promotions.  He hit fairly well, making better contact than he had previously.  Basabe made a late, brief appearance with Greensboro.

Basabe made some progress in limited playing time in 2023.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2023: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: $450,000
MiLB Debut: 2018
MLB Debut: N/A
MiLB FA Eligible: 2024
MLB FA Eligible: N/A
Rule 5 Eligible: 2021
Added to 40-Man: N/A
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
July 3, 2017: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent.