Baseball-Right-hander Nova inks three-year deal with Pirates

Dec 27 ( Reuters) - The Pittsburgh Pirates have bolstered their 2017 prospects by signing starting pitcher Ivan Nova to a new three-year deal, the Major League Baseball team announced on Tuesday.

Terms of the deal were not announced, but media reports put the contract at $26 million.

Free agent Nova ended the 2016 season in stellar fashion after being acquired from the New York Yankees in August.

In 11 starts with Pittsburgh, the right-hander from the Dominican Republic went 5-2 with a 3.06 ERA. He gave up only one walk in his first five starts.

Nova, 29, bolstered a Pittsburgh starting rotation headed by ace right-hander Gerrit Cole.

"Ivan pitched well with us the final two months of the season and we look forward to him being a key part of our rotation as we work to return to the postseason," general manager Neal Huntington said in a news release.

The Pirates are in the National League Central with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs and the perennially powerful St. Louis Cardinals.

Pittsburgh went 78-83 in 2016. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Nick Mulvenney)