Pirates GM Ben Cherington: Trading for Ji-Man Choi ‘a first move’ to upgrade offense
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Even after Ben Cherington found a first baseman by trading with the Tampa Bay Rays for Ji-Man Choi, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager emphasized the need to build a deeper offensive lineup.
Cherington, who acquired Choi for minor-league pitcher Jack Hartman, stopped short of declaring the 31-year-old South Korean the Pirates’ starter at first base but believes he can improve upon a poor season.
Choi slashed .233/.341/.388 with 22 doubles, 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 113 games last season for the Rays, numbers similar to the combined totals of Michael Chavis and Yoshi Tsutsugo last year but with the promise of improved defensive play at first base.
“We think he fits well for us, a left-handed hitter with a history of on-base skills, good defender, good reputation as a teammate,” Cherington said Friday on a video conference call. “We felt good about this as a first move. We’ll continue to look at ways to add to the offense.”
Cherington said the Pirates will continue to address their offensive output after they ranked among baseball’s worst teams in many major categories, indicating first base and designated hitter were areas where they “clearly” had room for improvement.
With a pair of top-100 prospects in 2021 No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis and their minor league player of the year, Endy Rodriguez, adding a veteran catcher isn’t as much of a priority for Cherington. The Pirates have only two catchers on the 40-man roster after Roberto Perez elected free agency and Jason Delay was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
“In terms of resources, whether that’s financial resources or giving up talent, it’s probably not the top of the priority list, in terms of how much resource we pour into it,” Cherington said. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t add a good player, a good fit.”
Choi earned $3.2 million last season for the Rays and is projected to make $4.5 million in his final year of arbitration, per MLBtraderumors.com. The Pirates signed Tsutsugo to a $4 million free-agent deal last year, only to designate him for assignment after he batted .171 with four doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs in 50 games. They also cut ties with Chavis, who slashed .229/.265/.389 with 16 doubles, three triples, 14 homers and 49 RBIs in 129 games.
Cherington said the Pirates liked the swing decisions Choi made despite his second-half struggles last season with the Rays. After slashing .278/.385/.449 with 16 doubles, seven homers and 41 RBIs in the first half, Choi slashed .164/.272/.293 in his final 47 games, batting .205 in July and .109 in August.
The Pirates GM blamed the slip on a right elbow injury that will require a procedure “in the next few days” in Korea, which didn’t give Cherington much concern.
“He was fighting a relatively minor right elbow injury late in the season that — we believe based on the information we have — is going to be taken care of, and he’s going to have plenty of time to be ready for spring training,” Cherington said. “I can’t say for sure if that was contributing at all. But based on the total information we have, we feel good about him going into next year.”
It's Ji-Man Choi stretch szn. pic.twitter.com/Qgd0ZLrstb
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2022
Cherington emphasized Choi’s ability to play first, where he played 792 2⁄3 innings in 98 games last season for the Rays and had a .996 fielding percentage and ranked seventh with plus-2 Outs Above Average but had minus-2 Defensive Runs Saved, per Sports Info Solutions. Choi has a .994 fielding percentage in 348 career games at first base.
“We’ve had him as a positive defender in our internal metrics,” Cherington said. “Defensive metrics are ones where there can be some variation between different models. But, based on all the public information and our own internal, if we just add them all up and average them, we feel good about him playing defense at first.”