Pirates hire one-time All-Star as special assistant

The Pirates have hired Daniel Vogelbach as a special assistant to their hitting department, reports Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While there’d been no word that the 32-year-old had ended his playing career, it seems he’s moving on to his post-playing days.

Vogelbach played parts of nine seasons in the majors. The lefty-hitting first baseman/designated hitter earned an All-Star nod with the Mariners amid a 30-homer showing in 2019. That was his best full season until 2022. Vogelbach signed a one-year free agent deal with Pittsburgh that came with a modest $1M base salary. It was a shrewd pickup, as he hit .228/.338/.430 over 75 games. The Bucs moved him to the Mets in a swap for reliever Colin Holderman, who projects as one of their better leverage arms this season.

After landing in Queens, Vogelbach hit .255/.393/.436 for the stretch run. He played well enough for New York to bring him back for the ’23 season, though his numbers dropped to a pedestrian .233/.339/.404 slash. Vogelbach appeared in 31 games early last year for the Blue Jays in what appears to be his final major league action.

If he is officially retiring, he’ll do so with a .219/.340/.405 batting line over 602 big league contests. Vogelbach hit 81 homers and drove in 246 runs while suiting up for five teams. He clearly made a strong impression on the Pittsburgh front office and coaching staff during his few months there as a player.