Free agency began across baseball Thursday, but the two players the Pirates lose will not affect them going forward.
After the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series on Wednesday, John Jaso and Joaquin Benoit joined 147 others players in free agency.
Jaso, 34, had a .328 on-base percentage and .402 slugging percentage while hitting .211 in his second year with the Pirates. They signed the career catcher and designated hitter before 2016 with the intention of turning him into a first baseman, an experiment that went well. This year, Starling Marte’s suspension and Gregory Polanco’s repeated hamstring injuries forced Jaso into the outfield corners, a role for which he was not suited.