As the rest of us prepare for Christmas and (hopefully) get some much-needed rest and relaxation, the Atlanta Braves front office remains hard at work, with A.J. Pierzynski being signed to a one-year deal today according to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman:
The #Braves and A.J. Pierzynski have reached agreement on a 1 yr. deal Deal is pending a physical. Likely won't be official until early Jan.
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) December 24, 2014
Pierzynski is coming off of the worst offensive season of his career with 405 plate appearances between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. He hit .251/.288/.337 last season compared to a career .281/.320/.424 triple slash.
Thanks to those numbers and the contract details, it’s safe to say that Pierzynski has reached the point in his career where he is clearly a back-up. Pierzynski has long been a solid back stop in the big leagues, and while his production certainly isn’t what it once was he should be perfectly fine as a back up.
According to Jon Heyman, with CBS Sports, Pierzynski could earn up to $2 million dollars for this contract:
Pierzynski braves deal, expected to be about $2M for 2015, won't be finalized until january
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) December 24, 2014
While Pierzynski is certainly no David Ross, this deal seems perfectly fair to both sides and Pierzynski should do fine in the role he’s going to be in.