The Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a one-year contract with free-agent first baseman Rowdy Tellez, sources told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The deal is worth $3.2 million in guaranteed money, with another $800,000 available through incentives, Mackey reports. Completion of the deal is pending a physical, per Robert Murray of FanSided.
Tellez, 28, spent most of the last three seasons with the Pirates' NL Central rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers. He's coming off a difficult 2023 season in which he hit a career-low .215/.291/.376 with 13 homers and 47 RBIs while being limited to 105 games because of injuries.
However, he's only one year removed from a breakout 2022 campaign where he led Milwaukee with 35 homers. Tellez was also a critical piece of the Brewers' 2021 NL Central-winning club, putting up an .814 OPS in 56 games down the stretch after being acquired from Toronto midseason.
Tellez became a free agent when the Brewers non-tendered him last month.
Tellez will give the Pirates some much-needed pop in the middle of their order against right-handers. While he'll presumably slot in as their everyday first baseman, Tellez will likely work in a platoon role with either Jared Triolo or Connor Joe, given his struggles against left-handed pitching.
The Sacramento native owns a lifetime .233/.304/.446 slash line with 92 homers and 263 RBIs over parts of six big-league seasons with the Brewers and Blue Jays.
