Earlier today, Matthew Pouliot discussed the ugliness of the Pirates’ third base predicament, as Pedro Alvarez has been an untenable defensive liability for the club this season. There was talk of moving Alvarez from third base to first base, but that would displace Ike Davis who is Alvarez’s equal against right-handed pitching.
Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune reports that, although Josh Harrison will take over third base on an everyday basis going forward, the Pirates won’t consider a position change for Alvarez until after the season. The Pirates also signed Jayson Nix to a one-year major league contract earlier today.
Alvarez has managed a mediocre .235/.322/.402 slash line with 15 home runs and 49 RBI this season, but nobody has made more errors at the hot corner than Alvarez (24). Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson comes in second with 18, so there’s a veritable gap and it explains the quagmire in Pittsburgh.