Pittsburgh Pirates to sign Lonnie Chisenhall

Lonnie Chisenhall, a former member of the Cleveland Indians, has joined the Pirates on a one-year deal, according to reports.

According to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic, free-agent outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall will be joining the Pittsburgh Pirates on a one-year contract worth $2.75 million. Fancred’s Jon Heyman and MLB Network’s Jon Morosi confirmed Rosenthal’s report shortly after it was released.

Furthermore, Rosenthal adds that Chisenhall’s deal comes with a variety of incentives; he can earn $250,000 should he reach the 250, 300, 350, and 400 plate appearances plateaus and can earn a potential $500,000 should he individually reach the 450, 500, 550, and 600 plate appearances marks, totaling $3 million in incentives.

However, he’s only reached the 500 PA mark once in his career. Essentially, the Pirates want to ensure that Chisenhall, who has often had some problems staying on the field in the past, will stay consistent for them down the stretch.

Chisenhall, 30, has spent his entire major league career with the Cleveland Indians, where he recently managed to appear in 29 games, slashing .321/.394/.452. His healthy career slash line of .268/.320/.427 is evidence that he has the potential to be a solid bat, but staying off the disabled list has always been a problem for the Morehead City, North Carolina native.

For his career, he’s appeared in 688 games, roughly an average of 86 games per season. Of course, the Pirates are expecting far more from him, even given his relatively modest salary.

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Though primarily a third baseman, Chisenhall has transitioned into the outfield over the past few seasons, logging almost 274 games in the outfield against 341 games at the hot corner. He’s also registered some time over at first base, and has occasionally served as Cleveland’s designated hitter.

While the deal seems relatively minor, it’s easy to see how the Pirates could potentially come out of this on top. If they’re contending, Chisenhall could, if healthy, be a decent utilityman for them down the stretch. If they’re out of it, a healthy Lonnie Chisenhall could be a great trade chip at the deadline. If, for some reason, he again has trouble staying healthy, the Pirates organization can simply count their losses and absorb the small amount of money they’re paying him this season.

Though Chisenhall wasn’t included on MLB Trade Rumors’ list of top 50 free agents this offseason, he still evidently had some sort of a market heading into the winter.

Regardless of how the deal actually plays out, Chisenhall’s signing is a relatively low risk one for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as they could potentially disregard his contract entirely should the situation become dire. While they’re obviously hopeful he’ll be a helpful addition to a rather barren offense, there’s always the possibility that he could be dragged down by similar injuries that have caused him to miss time in the past.