Pirates' Yasmani Grandal: Joins Bucs

Grandal and the Pirates agreed Sunday on a one-year, $2.5 million contract, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Grandal will make the move back to the National League after spending the past four seasons with the White Sox. The 35-year-old lost playing time down the stretch last season and and finished with a .234/.309/.339 slash line over 405 plate appearances. Though he was once an upper-tier fantasy catcher, Grandal is clearly on the downside of his career, as he's posted a lowly 74 wRC+ over the past two seasons. In Pittsburgh, Grandal projects to see a couple of starts per week behind the plate as young backstop Henry Davis' primary backup. The switch-hitting Grandal has typically performed better against left-handed pitching throughout his career, so he could also be deployed as a short-side platoon option at first base or at designated hitter.