The Rangers announced this morning that theyve signed outfielder to a minor league deal with an invite to big league Spring Training. Pillar, 36, is a veteran of 12 MLB seasons. After getting his start as a 32nd-round pick with the Blue Jays back in 2011, he made his big league debut in 2013 and has Reese Olson Jersey fashioned a solid career for himself as a glove-first outfielder who can provide some offense against left-handed pitching. His peak seasons as Torontos everyday center fielder where he posted 8.2 fWAR and 14.0 bWAR from 2015 to 2018 are long behind him, but in more recent years hes transitioned into being a serviceable fourth or fifth outfielder for a variety of MLB clubs. In 2024, Pillar started the season with the White Sox but struggled badly through 17 games. The veteran was cut by Chicago but managed to find a job with the Angels in Anaheim after went down for the year due to a meniscus i sue. Pillar joined the clubs outfield mix and did fairly well for himself, appearing in 83 games for the club while primarily playing center field. In 282 trips to the plate for the Halos, Pillar slashed .236/.291/.378 with a decent 88 wRC+ that suggested he was a touch below league average as a hitter. Thats perfectly serviceable for a depth piece, but Pillar notably crushed left-handed pitching with a .310/.352/.500 slash line against southpaws last year. That seems to suggests he could be more productive on a team with a deeper outfield mix who can offer him more platoon protection against right-handed hitters, and that makes the Rangers a decent fit for his services despite their full outfield mix. and are expected to be the clubs regular outfielders in the corners, with getting regular reps in center field and serving as the clubs fourth outfielder. Taveras is a somewhat imperfect complement to the lefty-swinging Carter in center, however, as hes just a .231/.291/.320 hitter for his career against southpaws including a dismal .189/.270/.244 showing against them last year. Taveras, who is controlled through the end of the 2027 season and is making just $4.75MM this year, has been bandied about as a potential trade candidate throughout the winter thanks to his questionable fit on the Rangers roster and the clubs desire to stay under the first threshold of the luxury tax this year. The club was reportedly in Taveras as recently as the end of January, though now that Spring Training has begun the odds of any trade getting done have gone down significantly. Even so, bringing Pillar into the fold offers the Rangers insurance against injury following a season where Carter was limited to just 45 games by back i sues while also potentially giving them the flexibility to listen to offers on Taveras more seriously than they would have if trading him wouldve forced them to rely on Garcia or Langford as their backup center fielder. Tyler Collins Jersey
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