The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed centerfielder Michael A. Taylor of Fort Lauderdale, Florida to a one-year deal worth $4 million according to Darragh McDonald of MLB Trade Rumors on Friday. The Pirates are the fourth Major League Baseball team Taylor has been with. He has previously played seven seasons with the Washington Nationals from 2014 to 2020, two seasons with the Kansas City Royals in 2021 and 2022, and last season with the Minnesota Twins.
2023 MLB Statistics
Taylor batted .220 with 21 home runs and 51 runs batted in. During 129 games, 355 at bats, and 388 plate appearances, he scored 48 runs and had 78 hits, 14 doubles, one triple, 13 stolen bases, 157 total bases, three sacrifice bunts, one sacrifice fly, an on base percentage of .278, and a slugging percentage of .442. Taylor’s sacrifice fly came in a 3-2 extra end, 10-inning win over the Toronto Blue Jays on June 9, and his triple came in a 7-6 Twins win over the Colorado Rockies on September 29.
World Series Champion
Taylor won the World Series with the Nationals in 2019. In a bizarre World Series where the road team won all seven games as the Nationals beat the Houston Astros four games to three, Taylor had limited action. However, he did have one at bat in the series and made the most of it as he hit a home run in game two, a 12-3 Nationals victory. The home run was in the ninth inning off of Astros reliever Chris Devenski, and put the Nationals up 12-2 at the time.
Gold Glove Award
In his first year with the Kansas City Royals in 2021, Taylor was one of three outfielders to win the American League Gold Glove Award. He was joined by Taylor’s Kansas City teammate Andrew Benintendi of Cincinnati, Ohio and Joey Gallo of Henderson, Nevada, who shared his time with the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. Taylor had three errors all season and had a fielding percentage of .992.
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