MLB Free Agency: Angel Pagan Says He Will Not Play in 2017
Angel Pagan is the most “high profile” free agent available, but the outfielder has just stated his intentions to sit out the 2017 MLB season.
Many people around baseball were quite surprised that outfielder Angel Pagan remained unsigned as MLB spring training drew to a close.
Now, he has told Yamaira Muniz Perez of El Vocero that he intends to spend time at home with his family and sit out the 2017 MLB season.
This has been quite a turn for the veteran outfielder, as he was expected to receive a major league offer because of the numbers he put up with the San Francisco Giants last season.
In his mid-30s, Pagan batted a solid .277 and stole an encouraging 15 bases in the 129 games that he appeared in. Although not the 30-bag stealer he once was, the veteran’s power seemed to increase over what we had grown accustomed to over the years. Pagan finished the year with a season-high 12 home runs during his 2016 campaign.
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Still, this production was not enough to prompt a team to invest an MLB contract in him, but this did not mean that he had a lack of suitors on the minor league contract front.
According to Muniz Perez, Pagan received minor league deals with an invite to training camp from the Blue Jays, Braves and Nationals among others. However, he also reports that Pagan had no interest in taking a minor league deal.
This development does remain rather surprising, especially because an outfield situation has just opened up with the Pirates losing outfielder Starling Marte to an 80-game suspension for PED use. It would seem that Pagan would be a perfect fit to help the Pirates try to replace that production, in addition to the bench pieces they currently have. There are also a number of teams like the White Sox, Braves and Cardinals that have some form of outfield need on their rosters as well.
In the report, Pagan points out that this does not mean he is stepping away from the game altogether. So a return to MLB in 2018 may still be a possibility, even though he will be another year older.
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What do you think of this turn of events? Should Pagan have gotten a major league contract? Let us know in the comment section below.