Pirates GM: Freese starts at 3rd until Kang returns

David Freese, the Pittsburgh Pirates' newest infielder, will be the team's third baseman until Jung Ho Kang returns from the disabled list.

General manager Neal Huntington awarded the starting job - for now - to the 2011 World Series MVP shortly after signing him to a one-year, $3-million deal Friday, with the expectation that Freese will shift to a backup corner infielder role once Kang is ready to return.

"The idea is it adds a very talented, veteran bat to our club that's an experienced winner, that is going to bounce around the field for us and gives us an insurance policy until Jung Ho's ready to go," Huntington told MLB.com's Adam Berry.

Kang, who turns 29 on April 5, saw his excellent 2015 rookie campaign end in disaster when he suffered a gruesome knee injury on a takeout slide. Despite making progress in his recovery, Huntington noted the Korean will need rest days once he returns to action - something that appeared to weigh heavily into his decision to sign Freese.

In addition to eventually backing up Kang, Huntington said he expects Freese to join John Jaso as the right-handed half of a first-base platoon. Both players are inexperienced manning the position: Freese has played nine career games at first and none since 2011, while Jaso has logged only five innings at the bag.

"David will give us the ability to share time with John at first base," Huntington said. "He's not played a ton over there - we seem to do that quite a bit - but we do feel that he'll be able to come in, get up to speed quickly and be able to bounce back and forth between the corners."