Last week, the Pirates signed a pair of players to one-year deals. Given their roster construction, one was very predictable, inking Roberto Pérez to a one-year pact for $5 million. The other was a bit perplexing, avoiding arbitration with Kevin Newman for $1.95 million.
In Pérez’s case, the Pirates did not have any catchers on their 40-man roster at the time after trading Jacob Stallings to the Marlins, and he was arguably the best catcher available in a weak free agent class. He was bit by the injury bug in 2021, but had won Gold Gloves the previous two seasons.