The Pirates are ramping up their pursuit of a shortstop, two baseball sources told DKPittsburghSports.com.
The team has become more engaged in talks with The Legacy Agency, which represents free agent Freddy Galvis. The 29-year-old hit .248/.299/.380 with 13 home runs, eight stolen bases and seven defensive runs saved (DRS) this year while playing in all 162 games for the Padres.
Galvis spent the first six seasons of his career with the Phillies from 2012-17 before being traded to the Padres. He is a .246/.290/.374 lifetime hitter with 65 homers and 53 steals in 804 games over seven seasons.
Galvis' salary was $6.825 million last season. The Pirates saved $9.1 million for 2019 by trading Ivan Nova to the White Sox on Tuesday and have committed $2.05 million of that savings to right-hander Jordan Lyles, who has agreed to terms on a one-year contract as a free agent.
The Pirates also remain in trade talks with the Diamondbacks about Nick Ahmed, the National League Gold Glove winner this year when he had 21 DRS. The 28-year-old also hit .234/.290/.411 with 16 homers and five steals in 153 games.
The Pirates continue to monitor the market for free agent Jose Iglesias, a 28-year-old who batted .269/.310/.389 with five homers and 15 steals in 125 games for the Tigers in 2018.
A long shot for the Pirates is free agent Jed Lowrie, who is 34 and has not played regularly at shortstop since 2014, or started a game at the position since 2015. He does have a potent bat, though, hitting .267/.353/.448 with 23 homers in 157 games for the Athletics last season while being selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in his 11-year career.
Erik Gonzalez currently projects as the starting shortstop. Acquired from the Indians in a trade Nov. 14, the 27-year-old has been primarily a utility infielder — just nine starts at shortstop — during his three major league seasons.