The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced the Club has signed infielder David Freese to a two-year contract extension (beginning in 2017) with a club option for the 2019 season. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.
The 33-year-old Freese is hitting .276 (96-for-348) with 20 doubles, 12 home runs, 49 RBI, 54 runs scored, a .355 on-base percentage, .437 slugging percentage and .792 OPS in 107 games in his first season with the Pirates.
"David has been a consummate professional while producing offensively and playing solid defense at both third and first base to help this team win games," said Huntington. "We are very pleased to have the opportunity to extend that impact into future seasons."
Freese's .276 average, .355 on-base percentage and .437 slugging percentage coming into today are his highest totals since the 2012 season when he recorded a .293 average, .372 OBP and .467 slugging percentage as a member of the Cardinals. He also enters today two home runs shy of matching his 2015 total (14) as a member of the Angels and seven RBI shy of his 2015 total (56).
Since breaking into the big leagues in 2009 with St. Louis, Freese has hit .276 with 153 doubles, five triples, 80 home runs and 397 RBI in 828 games with the Cardinals (2009-13), Angels (2014-15) and Pirates (2016).
The Pirates have now signed three players to multi-year deals since the start of the 2016 regular season (Gregory Polanco, Francisco Cervelli and David Freese).