Dodgers agree to Minors deal with Kevin Pillar

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The Dodgers continued to add outfield depth on Tuesday, signing veteran Kevin Pillar to a Minor League deal with an invite to Spring Training. If Pillar makes the Major League roster, his base salary will be $2.5 million.

Pillar, 33, hit .231 with 15 homers and 47 RBIs in 124 games for the Mets last season, his ninth in the big leagues. Known for some stellar catches in the outfield, Pillar carries a .260 career batting average over 1,029 games with the Blue Jays, Giants, Red Sox, Rockies and Mets.

“Obviously a tremendous organization,” Pillar said about joining the Dodgers. “This organization has done a really, really good job of taking players that maybe have underperformed or underachieved, or maybe some guys that were fairly unknown, and turned them into some really good baseball players. For me, I want to leave no stone unturned.”

Pillar, who is from Southern California, didn’t want to get into the specifics of his free agency, but the outfielder did say that finding a job has been increasingly difficult for him over the last few seasons. He has played for five different organizations since the start of the 2019 season.

Signing a Minor League deal without a clear path to the big league roster isn’t something Pillar has done before. But the decision to sign with the Dodgers, Pillar said, was to try to learn some new things and squeeze a couple more seasons out of his career.

“Obviously a very, very talented roster and no obvious path for me to make that happen right now,” Pillar said. “But I’m betting on myself. I’m betting on myself to be able to play this game at a high level for a couple of years, even if that means I got to take a step back this year.”

While difficult, there is a path for Pillar to make a contribution with the Dodgers this season. He gives them yet another experienced right-handed bat that could be in consideration for one of the bench spots. As of now, Hanser Alberto, who reportedly signed a one-year deal with Los Angeles but is awaiting his visa in the Dominican Republic, is the only clear right-handed bat off the bench.

Though Chris Taylor and AJ Pollock are regulars, they could also be included in that mix as the Dodgers have a deep roster heading into the season. But having Pillar does give Los Angeles some insurance in the event of an unforeseen injury.

“It’s obviously late in the game, he was a late sign, late add, but as far as our roster construction, we just have to continue to reassess. We still have time to figure out how it all shapes out,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “But he understands what’s going on. His character, his track record certainly made it a pretty easy decision to bring him in.”