Catcher Jacob Stallings, the 2021 National League Gold Glove Award winner, had lingered on baseball’s free agent market since he was designated for assignment by the Baltimore Orioles last July.
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Stallings is back with the Pittsburgh Pirates — not as a player, but as a baseball operations specialist, according to Jason Mackey of Pittsburgh Sports Now.
Stallings, 36, played 10 seasons at the major league level. He split last season between the Orioles and Colorado Rockies, then rejected an outright assignment to the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate after being DFA’d last July, making him a free agent.
Stallings also played for the Pirates (2016-22) and Miami Marlins (2023). He retires with a .232/.311/.340 in 577 MLB games.
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In his prime, Stallings was an adept pitch-caller and framer who could handle the bat well enough to start 100 games in a season. He reached that threshold twice, in 2021 and 2022 with the Pirates, logging career-highs with 38 runs, 53 RBIs, and 20 doubles the former year.
More to come on this story.