The Pirates acquired first baseman Ji-Man Choi from the Rays in a trade that sent pitching prospect Jack Hartman to Tampa Bay, both teams confirmed late Thursday afternoon.
Choi, 31, slashed .233/.341/.388 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 113 games with the Rays in 2022. His .729 OPS would've ranked third among the Pirates' hitters with 300-plus at-bats, behind Bryan Reynolds' .807 and Oneil Cruz's .744. He made $3.2 million last season and was set to go into arbitration with an estimated $4.6 million awaiting him if tendered, according to projections from spotrac.com, and the Rays had no intention of tendering him. The Pirates, obviously, would tender him after trading to get him.
Choi seemed caught off guard by the trade in an Instagram post, saying, "What a surprise news that I am no longer with the Rays. I wish I were going to retire with the Rays uniform, but what can I say? Baseball is a part of business; there's nothing I can do about it. I like to let you know that I enjoyed every moment I played in the Rays uniform. I will miss every Rays fan's love and support they brought into the Tropicana Field. Without you, baseball is nothing, and I couldn't be here today."
Choi is a seven-year veteran who has slashed .239/.345/.429 for, in order, the Angels, Yankees, Brewers and Rays and, along the way, he's built a reputation for solid defense. In 2022, he finished seventh among all first basemen in Major League Baseball in Outs Above Average (+2), according to Baseball Savant, which placed him in the 77th percentile at the position.
The Pirates were a disaster at first base in every way in 2022, slashing a worst-in-the-majors .206/.264/.337 with Yoshi Tsutsugo, Josh VanMeter and Michael Chavis, among others, splitting time there.
Hartman, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the Pirates in 2020 out of Appalachian State. The right-hander turned in an 0-1 record with a 6.27 ERA in 22 appearances for low Class A Bradenton.
Additionally, the Pirates began to set their 40-man roster in advance of the Rule 5 draft by reinstating Canaan Smith-Njigba, Colin Holderman, Yerry De Los Santos, Blake Cederlind and Max Kranick from the 60-day injured list, and by outrighting Cederlind, Peter Solomon, Beau Sulser, Jason Delay, Eric Stout and Zack Collins. Collins and Stout elected free agency.
The roster is now full.
