FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Rumored to be joining the Red Sox for the past several days, Kevin Pillar appeared in the team¡¯s clubhouse shortly before Friday morning¡¯s workout and even took some swings in the indoor batting cage.

The veteran outfielder signed a one-year contract with the Red Sox, the team announced Friday night. The deal is for $4.25 million, a source told MLB.com¡¯s Mark Feinsand.

The acquisition of Pillar makes a lot of sense. For starters, newly acquired outfielder Alex Verdugo might miss Opening Day due to a back ailment he suffered last season.

And even once Boston is at full strength, the right-handed-hitting Pillar is a perfect complement to a starting outfield that features all left-handed hitters in Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley Jr.

¡°Obviously, he's a great player, and has been a great player for a long time,¡± said Red Sox first baseman Mitch Moreland. ¡°He's a great outfielder who has probably robbed everybody in the clubhouse with his years in Toronto. It'll be a great match for us, obviously, a right-handed bat in the outfield with a pretty lefty-heavy lineup.

¡°He plays the game the right way, plays hard. That's a solid add for our team. He's going to make us that much better. It'll be fun to watch him and Jackie out there, diving and robbing.¡±

While Pillar¡¯s primary position is center field, he has experience at all three outfield spots. Somewhat stunningly, he has never won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award. But Pillar was selected as Wilson¡¯s Defensive Player of the Year for center field in 2015.

Highlight reels are stacked with the great plays Pillar has made since starting his career in 2013.

¡°We know he doesn¡¯t mind laying out, crashing into walls,¡± said Boston interim manager Ron Roenicke. "Sometimes you get a little worried when a guy does too much of that because you have the injury factor, but he knows how to play. I¡¯m not sure if the metrics on him are the same as they were five years ago when he was probably faster. But he¡¯s always been a good defender.¡±

The 31-year-old Pillar had played his entire career with the Blue Jays before he was dealt to the Giants in the first week of last season. With San Francisco, Pillar belted a career-high 21 homers and had an OPS of .735 over 156 games. Overall, he played 161 games last season.

¡°Aggressive. Knows how to play the game,¡± said Roenicke. ¡°I wasn¡¯t real comfortable when he came to the plate in big situations. I thought he gave a nice at-bat.¡±

A regular the last five seasons, it will be interesting to see how Pillar adapts to more of a complementary role once Verdugo is cleared to play.