Pirates sign Overbay

[A.E]

Pirates sign first baseman Lyle Overbay to one-year contract​

Continuing their offseason plan of stockpiling mediocre veterans, the Pirates have agreed to terms with first baseman Lyle Overbay on a one-year contract.

Overbay spent the past five seasons in Toronto, but the Blue Jays made no attempt to re-sign the 33-year-old after he hit just .243 with a .329 on-base percentage and .433 slugging percentage in 154 games this year.

He has a sub-.800 OPS in three of the past four seasons, has slugged above .500 just once in his career, and has the third-lowest OPS among the 19 first basemen to receive at least 1,500 plate appearances since 2008.

Overbay starting at first base likely means Garrett Jones and Matt Diaz will platoon in one outfield corner, with Jose Tabata playing every day in the other corner. Pittsburgh was already said to be aggressively shopping catcher/outfielder Ryan Doumit following the Diaz signing, so with the addition of Overbay pushing Jones to the outfield full time trading Doumit now seems even more likely.

-HBT

 

[Lake Louise]

Let's see if the Pirates can manage a good season this time. I'm not a fan of them or anything, except for a few players like Andrew McCutchen. It just sucks to see a team struggle so much for so long. Especially when they are close to being good. Lots of youth, in need of that veteran leadership and Overbay will do what he can to be that guy. Always liked Overbay.