Rays trade 1B Ji-Man Choi to Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired first baseman Ji-Man Choi from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league pitcher Jack Hartman on Thursday. Choi, 31, played four-plus seasons with the Rays after brief stints with the Los Angeles Angels (2016), New York Yankees (2017) and Milwaukee Brewers (2018). He is a career .239 hitter with 61 home runs and 225 RBIs over 486 games. The South Korea native played 113 games for the Rays in 2022 -- including 92 starts at first base and 10 at designated hitter -- and batted .233 with 11 homers and 52 RBIs. Hartman, a 24-year-old right-hander, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 and spent the 2022 season with Class-A Bradenton. He went 0-1 with a 6.27 ERA in 22 bullpen appearances. --Field Level Media