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Pirates Owner Bob Nutting Addresses Bryan Reynolds, Payroll, CBA

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8:04am: Reynolds spoke with reporters this morning about contract talks with the Pirates, and said the team has made no new offers thus far (per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic). At this stage, Reynolds has not set a deadline for a potential deal to get done.

7:59am: The future of Bryan Reynolds has dominated Pirates-related headlines ever since his trade request early on in the off-season. Speculation looks set to bleed into the spring now, and it likely won’t stop until the Pirates either hammer out an extension with their star outfielder or trade him.

According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates’ best offer to Reynolds was a six-year, $80MM deal, while the player was seeking eight years and $134MM — both of which would have represented a franchise record contract. While a $54MM gap is significant, owner Bob Nutting said in an interview with Mackey that the team is working hard to try and bridge that at the moment.

“We’d love to see Bryan as a long-term part of the team. The piece that I was most concerned about was his level of frustration in the sense that he felt disrespected by the team. If there’s a way we can bridge the gap, we’re working hard to do that. We’re continuing this week to work hard to do it. Bryan’s important. We want to do what’s right for him, for his family and for the team. We absolutely have respect for Bryan. We want to keep lines of communication open,” Nutting said.

The trade request came on the heels of that impasse in contract negotiations, but Reynolds has still maintained his preference is to stay in Pittsburgh if the right deal can be found. On that front, however, it does appear to be make-or-break time. Another strong season of production would likely push an extension next winter well out of Pittsburgh’s price range, and while the Pirates could still likely get a strong package in return for Reynolds next winter, his dwindling years of control and increasing arbitration salary will make it trickier to justify the bounty they might receive this season.

Reynolds can be a free agent following the 2025 season, which would not appear to line up perfectly with the Pirates’ projected window of contention, which may well be just opening around 2024-25. As such, an extension which keeps him in Pittsburgh beyond 2025 or a trade for younger players with more years of control makes plenty of sense. Reynolds, 28, has established himself as one of the game’s top outfielders in recent years. The switch-hitter has compiled 12.5 fWAR, averaging an excellent .281/.361/.481 line while belting 74 home runs over the past four seasons.

In any case, there seems to be little chance of the Pirates following the Padres anytime soon, and turning their small market payroll into one more resembling that of the game’s heavy hitters.

“It’s a model that we have belief in and have had success with. As we varied away from that model, which arguably we did in ’17, ’18 and ’19, it doesn’t work very well. I think we’re right at the brink of seeing success. I think what we’re continuing to do and what we have done is try to show discipline and make sure that we’re investing in the right places. I continue to look at baseball as one part of a much broader bucket,” Nutting said.

The Bucs’ payroll has ranked 30th, 30th and 28th in the past three seasons, failing to clear the $60MM threshold. The Pirates were at a similar stage of their rebuild in 2011-12, and were running out bottom-three payrolls in those seasons. As their window of contention opened, payroll more than doubled from 2012-15 (according to Cot’s Baseball Contracts) as the Pirates enjoyed a trio of playoff seasons.

Nutting’s brief but wide-ranging interview with Mackey also touched on the new collective bargaining agreement which was agreed upon a year ago between the league and the MLB Players Association.

“There’s no question the CBA contained several things that were not good for the Pirates and very few things that were excellent for us. You also have to remember there was no baseball going on. We had a real risk of losing the season. I felt a significant sense of urgency to get on the field. Could have had a protest vote. That’s not really who I am. I’m not sure it would be good for the team, and I don’t think it would be good for baseball,” Nutting said.

“It’s the single biggest issue facing the Pittsburgh Pirates. Competitive disparity, revenue disparity and payroll disparity are all real challenges. I think it’s great [Commissioner Rob Manfred] is publicly talking about it. We simply can’t be here in the next cycle. We’ve got to see fundamental change in the economic structure of the game. I believe that we’re positioned to do it — not this year or next year but over the longer-term cycle.”

Warner Bros. Discovery Planning To Leave RSN Business

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Warner Bros. Discovery, the owner of AT&T SportsNet and a minority shareholder of Root Sports, has informed teams it’ll cease participating in the regional sports network business, according to reports from John Ourand of Sports Business Journal and Joe Flint of the Wall Street Journal. WBD has local broadcasting agreements with a handful of teams in MLB, the NBA and the NHL.

The MLB teams affected are the Rockies, Astros and Pirates. The Mariners also have a relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery; Ourand writes the Mariners own 60% of their Root Sports Seattle venture, with WBD owning the other 40%. However, Flint reports the Seattle regional sports network is not part of WBD’s ongoing proceedings.

Ourand writes that the channel has informed teams they’ll have until March 31 to reach an agreement to reclaim their broadcasting rights from the RSN’s; if no deal is agreed upon, the networks are expected to liquidate via Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Flint quotes from WBD’s letter, which told clubs “the business will not have sufficient cash to pay the upcoming rights fees” and proposed for teams to retake ownership of broadcasting rights for no purchase price beyond a relinquishing of civil claims against the networks.

Colorado, Houston and Pittsburgh join the list of nearly half the teams facing some uncertainty about the potential bankruptcy of the Diamond Sports Group that operates the Bally networks. Diamond, which is responsible for broadcasts of 14 clubs, missed an interest payment to creditors last week and is evaluating whether it’ll be able to abide by its own broadcasting deals.

The difficulties facing both conglomerates come in response to declining rates of cable ownership. Cord-cutting has increased significantly over the past few years and is expected to continue given the rise of streaming alternatives. Warner Bros. Discovery provided a generic statement to Ourand alluding to financial problems: “AT&T SportsNet is not immune to the well-known challenges that the entire RSN industry is facing. We will continue to engage in private conversations with our partners as we seek to identify reasonable and constructive solutions.”

The franchises’ next steps are unclear. Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters last week the league would be in position to take over in-market broadcasts, if necessary, from the Diamond-operated networks. That’s presumably also true of the three clubs affected by WBD’s decision. There’s no indication fans in those markets should be concerned about forthcoming blackouts because of the RSN collapse. Ourand reports that WBD informed clubs it’d allow them to use the same production staff/equipment of the current agreement if those teams agree to reclaim their broadcast rights.

Nevertheless, events of the past few weeks have highlighted questions about the long-term viability of the regional sports network setup. WBD’s withdrawal from RSN’s affects only one-tenth of MLB teams, but the ongoing Diamond uncertainty could put many more in a difficult position over the coming weeks.

NL Central Notes: Reynolds, Pirates, Brewers, Cubs

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Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said yesterday that he expects star Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds and club officials to resume discussions regarding a possible extension at some point soon. That Reynolds and the Pirates would resume talks is of little surprise. While the sides were around $50MM apart in previous discussions and Reynolds went as far as to request a trade back in December, since reporting to camp last week Reynolds has reiterated that he would still be interested in extending his stay in Pittsburgh, so long as a deal that’s fair for all parties is presented.

Whether Reynolds ultimately signs an extension with the Pirates or departs, either by trade or as a free agent following the 2025 season, he seems likely to find his payday somewhere. The 28-year-old outfielder has largely looked the part of an All Star-caliber player since his debut in 2019, barring the shortened 2020 campaign where Reynolds struggled thanks in large part to a deflated .231 BABIP and an anomalous uptick in strikeout rate. The 2021 season in particular was a stellar one for Reynolds, as he slashed .302/.390/.522 (good for a 141 wRC+) while playing strong defense in center field and accumulating 6.1 fWAR throughout a campaign that would ultimately see him garner down-ballot MVP votes. That could prove to be a ceiling, particularly if defensive metrics continue to sour on his glovework in center (as was the case in 2022), but the widespread trade interest in Reynolds and the Buccos’ own interest in extending him speak to the caliber of player he’s become in his four big league seasons.

More from around the NL Central…

  • Sticking with the Pirates, Mackey discussed right-hander Johan Oviedo’s role ahead of the coming season, indicating it’s likely he will begin the season as a member of the starting rotation in Pittsburgh. Following his arrival in the deal that sent lefty Jose Quintana to the Cardinals at the trade deadline last season, Oviedo made seven starts for the Pirates, pitching to a 3.23 ERA that was 30% better than league average by ERA+ in 30 2/3 innings of work. While the Pirates added both Rich Hill and Vince Velazquez over the offseason, both of who seem likely to join Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, and JT Brubaker in the rotation this year, Mackey notes that it’s possible that Pittsburgh will opt for a six man rotation to begin the year rather than bump Oviedo or Brubaker either to Triple-A or the bullpen.
  • Brewers left-hander Ethan Small is set to start the season in a relief role, manager Craig Counsell tells reporters, including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Small, the club’s first round pick in the 2019 draft, has spent his whole career as a starter to this point, but is now being looked at as an option for the Opening Day bullpen due to Milwaukee’s depth in terms of starting options and the club’s lack of lefty bullpen options beyond Hoby Milner, particularly given the fact that Aaron Ashby is set to begin the season on the injured list. A move to relief could be helpful for Small, who faced struggles with his control last season. The lefty posted a 13% walk rate in Triple-A en route to a 4.48 ERA in 103 innings at that level while walking eight batters in his 6 1/3 big league innings during a brief MLB debut last year.
  • Cubs manager David Ross spoke to reporters yesterday, including MLB.com’s Matthew Ritchie, regarding youngster Christopher Morel’s role as he heads into what will be his second season in the majors. While Morel seemed to be a potential front-runner to start at third base for the Cubs this season, Ross seems more focused on Morel’s versatility, noting he could serve as a fourth outfielder for the club behind starters Ian Happ, Cody Bellinger, and Seiya Suzuki, or act as a utility player, combining his experience in the outfield with his ability to play every infield position besides first base. Chicago’s recent signing of third baseman Edwin Rios might factor into this thinking, as the lefty Rios has the potential to form an effective platoon with incumbent third baseman Patrick Wisdom, who mashed lefties to a line of .250/.336/.556 (147 wRC+) in 141 plate appearances against opposite-handed pitching last year.

Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

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The rebuilding Pirates had a fairly similar offseason to the one they had a year ago. The trade chatter for Bryan Reynolds continued, but nothing came to fruition. In the end, it was another winter of bringing aboard veterans on short-term deals to fill out the young and inexperienced roster. Those vets will hopefully make the team a bit better, mentor the youngsters and perhaps turn into trade chips by midseason. The most notable of those new additions is actually a familiar face, with the Bucs bringing back a franchise icon who’s been away for a few years.

Major League Signings

2023 spending: $30.375MM
Total spending: $30.375MM

Option Decisions

  • None

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signees

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

Though it was a fairly modest offseason for the Bucs when comparing them to other clubs, this was on the aggressive side when compared to their own recent offseasons. The club only spent $16MM last offseason and $7.25MM in the previous two combined. Though their $30.375MM this winter isn’t exactly a spending spree compared to win-now clubs like the Mets or Padres, it was technically more than they themselves have spent in quite some time.

Among the players brought in to bolster the roster, the one that Pittsburgh fans are surely the most excited about is Andrew McCutchen. The 36-year-old spent the best years of his career as a Pirate, having been drafted by them in 2005 and playing for the big league club from 2009 to 2017. That tenure included winning 2013 NL MVP, five All-Star selections and playoff berths in three straight years from 2013-2015, their only postseason trips in the last 30 years.

Though many of the club’s acquisitions will be viewed as future trade candidates, it seems McCutchen won’t be in the same bucket. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported last month that the idea is for McCutchen to stay in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career. It’s possible that a situation arises where a World Series contender wants him and gives the team a call, but Mackey’s reporting indicates that a trade will only come to fruition if Cutch wants to take the opportunity to get a ring.

The other new faces will be a different story. The past two seasons have seen the Pirates add a veteran arm to their starting rotation and flip them at the deadline for prospects. It was Tyler Anderson in 2021 and José Quintana last year. For 2023, both Rich Hill and Vince Velasquez have been signed to one-year deals and each could potentially follow the same path as Anderson and Quintana. Hill is about to turn 43 years old but still made 26 starts last year with a 4.27 ERA. Velasquez has occasionally seemed on the verge of establishing himself as a solid major league starter, but he’s also faltered and been moved to the bullpen on multiple occasions.

The bullpen saw one similar addition in Jarlín García. He’s been with the Giants the past three years, posting solid results. From 2020 to 2022, he made 135 appearances with a 2.84 ERA, 22.5% strikeout rate, 7.0% walk rate and 40.5% ground ball rate. He’s probably not quite as good as that ERA would indicate, given his .246 BABIP in that time, but he still registered a 3.90 FIP and 3.76 SIERA. Nonetheless, the Giants non-tendered him instead of paying him a projected $2.4MM arbitration salary, and the Pirates swooped in to give him $2.5MM. Like Hill and Velasquez, he could find himself on the trade block this summer if he’s pitching well, though the Bucs have a club option for 2024 and could keep him around for another season.

The other new face for the bullpen will be Jose Hernandez, but like all Rule 5 picks, he’ll have to justify his roster spot or else be put on waivers and then offered back to his original club. The 25-year-old split last year between High-A and Double-A in the Dodgers’ system, posting a 3.32 ERA in 59 2/3 innings with a 27.8% strikeout rate but a 10.1% walk rate.

On the position player side of things, in addition to McCutchen, the club brought in Ji-Man Choi, Carlos Santana and Austin Hedges. Choi is in his final arbitration year and will be a free agent at season’s end, while Santana and Hedges both signed one-year deals. Catcher and first base were both quite unsettled for the club last year, as Roberto Pérez went down with an early injury and the  Yoshi Tsutsugo gamble didn’t pay off.

Hedges doesn’t hit much but has long been considered one of the best defensive catchers in the league, while Santana and Choi give the club a couple of fairly steady veterans for their first base and designated hitter slots. Like the pitching acquisitions, any of these names could be on the move in the summer if the club wants to make room for younger players. The same could be said for veterans on minor league deals like Kevin Plawecki, Tyler Chatwood or Tyler Heineman, should they crack the roster at some point.

Unsurprisingly, it seems it will be another season about the potential young core for the rebuilding Pirates. Hill and Velasquez are fine additions, but the main focus in the rotation will be on more controllable players. Both Mitch Keller and JT Brubaker showed some encouraging results last year and can be controlled through the 2025 season. Roansy Contreras and Luis Ortiz have also had some exciting results and have yet to reach a year of service time, meaning they’re not slated to reach free agency until after 2028 at the earliest. There are also yet-to-debut prospects like Quinn Priester, Mike Burrows, Jared Jones, Kyle Nicolas, among others. The bullpen will be led by David Bednar, who seems to have established himself as a lock-down closer and isn’t slated for free agency until after the 2026 campaign.

Hedges should be a fine steward of those young arms, but he will also likely be tasked with ushering in young catching prospects like Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis. McCutchen, Santana and Choi will join a position player mix of youngsters who are still developing, such as Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Ji Hwan Bae, Jack Suwinski, Rodolfo Castro and Calvin Mitchell. That group will be looking to cement themselves before another wave of prospects arrives, one that includes Termarr Johnson, Nick Gonzales, Jared Triolo and Liover Peguero. Recent acquisition Connor Joe can jump into that mix as well.

The 2023 season, and perhaps beyond, will help the club examine key questions about that group of young players. Cruz has elite tools,, but can he cut down his strikeouts and prove himself a viable shortstop? Hayes is an elite defender at third, but can he take a step forward at the plate? Which of Rodriguez or Davis will step up as the catcher of the future? Could it be both, in a time-share setting? Can any of the others emerge as true everyday options, or are they more role players?

Hovering over all of this is the great unanswered Bryan Reynolds question. He’s hit 74 home runs over the past four seasons and cemented himself as an above-average outfielder in the major leagues. He’s now down to three years of club control, seeming to put the club in a position where they have to make a move one way or another. They could certainly return to contention in that timeframe, but it would be wise to figure out a way to better align him with their future window of contention. That means either giving him an extension that keeps him around longer or trading him for younger and more controllable players.

That has put Reynolds in trade rumors for quite some time, though the club has reportedly set a sky-high asking price. The fact that no deal has come together suggests that they are willing to stick to it. The extension talks didn’t seem to gain much traction this offseason either, as the player and the club were reportedly about $50MM apart in those discussions. That led to Reynolds requesting a trade, though that apparently did nothing to nudge the front office any closer to striking a deal. Reynolds recently stated that he’s still open to an extension, as long as it’s a fair deal, but there’s been nothing to suggest anything is particularly close on that front. The two sides could well revisit those talks later this spring, but a $50MM gap is a particularly large chasm to bridge for a club with the Pirates’ annual payroll levels.

Perhaps the upcoming campaign will dictate how the club proceeds. If the Pirates can have a season similar to the Orioles last year and suddenly seem like the rebuild is over, maybe they decide to plunk down some money and keep Reynolds around. Then again, by that point, the asking price may be even higher. Conversely, if they have a year like the 2022 Royals where there’s not as much development as hoped, perhaps they’ll choose a different path and more earnestly look to move Reynolds as one of the final pieces of business in their current rebuilding effort. There’s lots of exciting young talent in the system and reasons to feel good about the future, but still many questions to be answered.

How would you grade the Pirates’ offseason? (Link to poll)

In conjunction with this post, Darragh McDonald held a Pirates-centric live chat on Feb. 23. Click here to read the transcript.

Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Hitting Coach Rick Eckstein

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Rick Eckstein’s playing career ended with the 1996 Florida Gators, where he played alongside his younger brother David.  Rick moved directly into a coaching role at the University of Florida, the beginning of what has become a respected career.

Eckstein eventually worked his way up the ladder to become the Nationals’ big league hitting coach for nearly five years, working under manager Davey Johnson from 2009-13.  Nats players Adam LaRoche, Ian Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman, and Stephen Strasburg won Silver Slugger awards under Eckstein’s watch.  After a stint with the Angels as player information coach, Eckstein became an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.

Following a few years as the Twins’ minor league hitting coordinator, Eckstein was hired as the Pirates’ Major League hitting coach under managers Clint Hurdle and Derek Shelton.  He served in that job for nearly three years.  Rick currently serves as a consultant to MLB hitters, given his vast knowledge and experience in the game.

Rick joined MLBTR readers today for a live chat, covering the new shift rule, working with Davey Johnson, and much more.  Read the transcript here.

NL Notes: Marte, Stephenson, Dodgers, Taillon

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Starling Marte underwent core surgery in November, and the outfielder talked with reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) today about the somewhat unexpected nature of that procedure.  Marte ended up requiring surgery on both sides of his groin, providing an unwelcome answer to he’d been bothered by leg and lower-body problems for a big portion of the 2022 season.  Marte played through quad and groin soreness but didn’t go on the injured list until he suffered a fractured finger in September, sidelining him until the playoffs.

Despite all the injuries, Marte’s first Mets season was a success, as he hit .292/.347/.468 with 16 homers over 505 plate appearances.  Both Marte and manager Buck Showalter indicated that the veteran outfielder will be ramped up somewhat slowly in the early days of Spring Training, yet Marte is expected to be ready to roll for the Opening Day lineup.

More from around the National League…

  • Pirates reliever Robert Stephenson is suffering from some right arm discomfort, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey tweets.  It seems to be a precautionary slowdown at this point, and Stephenson threw as recently as Saturday.  Heading into his first full season with the Pirates, Stephenson had a 3.38 ERA and a whopping 36% strikeout rate over 13 1/3 innings after the Bucs claimed him off waivers from the Rockies in late August.  Assuming that this arm issue isn’t overly serious, Stephenson is an interesting high-leverage bullpen arm for Pittsburgh, given that he posted good results in 2019 (with Cincinnati) and 2021 (with Colorado).
  • Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that J.D. Martinez will be the club’s designated hitter “99.9 percent of the time,” though Martinez isn’t necessarily expected to play all 162 games.  This plan differs from the Dodgers’ rotational use of the DH spot last season, and in particular, Will Smith will be slated for more full rest days with Martinez on board, as Los Angeles often used Smith at DH on days when he wasn’t catching.  As productive a bat as Smith has been, he might be even better with a bit more rest, and ideally Martinez’s offense would further enhance the Dodgers’ lineup punch.
  • Jameson Taillon is on a new team and he is now learning a new pitch, as the Cubs right-hander has started to work on a sweeping slider.  As Taillon tells The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma, he was one of the relatively few Yankees pitchers who didn’t use the “whirly,” as his 2020-21 offseason was spent recovering from Tommy John surgery and adjusting after being traded from the Pirates, and Taillon’s 2021-22 offseason work was hampered by the lockout and recovery from ankle surgery.  “This year, healthy offseason, I signed on the earlier end, got familiar with the pitching coaches and I’m comfortable with my delivery.  So I feel like it’s the perfect storm for being able to tinker a little bit,” Taillon said.  The righty inked a four-year, $68MM free agent deal with Chicago in early December.

Pirates Win Arbitration Hearing Against Ji-Man Choi

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The Pirates won their arbitration hearing against first baseman Ji-Man Choi, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). He’ll earn the $4.65MM salary submitted by the team, as opposed to the $5.4MM salary his camp submitted on exchange day last month.

Acquired in a November trade that sent minor league pitcher Jack Hartman back to the Rays, Choi is heading into his final season of control before he’ll reach the free-agent market. The 31-year-old turned in a .233/.341/.488 batting line with Tampa Bay in 2022, swatting 11 home runs and 22 doubles while operating primarily as a platoon bat at first base and designated hitter. That’s a role with which Choi is familiar; just 16% of his career plate appearances have come against lefties (278 of 1724), and he’s a lifetime .203/.288/.301 hitter against them. Conversely, he’s hit righties at a .247/.356/.454 pace in 1446 plate appearances.

With the Pirates, Choi will pair with fellow offseason acquisition Carlos Santana to split time between first base and designated hitter. He’ll add some thump to a Pirates lineup that mustered only a .224/.296/.362 batting line against righties in 2022 — resulting in an ugly 86 wRC+ that ranked 26th among all MLB clubs.

Choi underwent elbow surgery shortly after the trade, but the Pirates were aware of the injury and confident that he’d be ready to go for spring training. By all accounts, that’s still the expectation. Mackey notes that Choi arrived at Pirates camp this morning but has yet to speak with the media.

With Choi’s salary now set, the Pirates’ payroll is finalized, barring any late additions via the free-agent or trade markets (or any possible extensions this spring). As it stands, they’ll head into the year with just north of $75MM committed to their roster. Small as that number may be, it represents a leap of nearly $20MM over last year’s Opening Day mark of $55.7MM, which ranked 28th among baseball’s 30 teams.

Pirates Sign Kent Emanuel To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates have signed left-hander Kent Emanuel to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will presumably be invited to major league Spring Training.

Emanuel, 31 in June, was a third round pick of the Astros back in 2013. Though he came up as a starter, he was gradually shifted into spending more time in the bullpen, which led to a solid 3.90 ERA in Triple-A in 2019. He was given a spot on the 40-man roster at the end of that season to prevent him from reaching minor league free agency.

The few seasons since getting that roster spot have been tumultuous, however. He received an 80-game suspension in 2020 after testing positive for the banned substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, though he expressed bewilderment at that fact. In 2021, he was able to make his major league debut by tossing 17 2/3 innings over 10 appearances with a 2.55 ERA, but then was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

Though he required the internal brace procedure instead of the more common Tommy John surgery, he was still facing an extended absence. He was put on waivers at the end of the season and claimed by the Phillies. He spent all of 2022 in the minors, first on a rehab assignment and then an optional assignment. The Phillies tried converting him back to starting, as he made 13 starts in the minors last year, tossing 58 innings with a 2.64 ERA. But he was placed on the IL in September with a shoulder strain and then outrighted in November.

It’s unclear if the Pirates plan to deploy Emanuel as a starter or move him back to the bullpen. Either way, he’ll provide some non-roster depth to a pitching staff with some uncertainty. The rotation will likely consist of Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, JT Brubaker, Rich Hill and Vince Velasquez, but the latter two are on one-year deals and could become midsummer trade candidates if the Bucs are out of contention. In terms of left-handed relief, the only two options on the 40-man roster are Jarlín García and Rule 5 draftee Jose Hernandez.

Emanuel will look to work his way onto the roster alongside other invitees like Caleb Smith, Ángel Perdomo, Rob Zastryzny and Daniel Zamora. If he does earn a spot, he still has an option year and plenty of affordable control, with still between one and two years of service time.

Bryan Reynolds Still Open To Extension With Pirates

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Pirates center fielder Bryan Reynolds reported to camp early, arriving at the Pirates’ spring facility in Bradenton, Fla. today, a few days ahead of the Feb. 20 mandatory report date for non-pitchers and catchers. In meeting with the Pirates beat, Reynolds acknowledged the offseason trade request, stating that “nothing’s really changed from that front” but adding that he’s “been pretty open the past few years that my No. 1 choice would be to sign an extension in Pittsburgh” (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel and Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Reynolds added that he’s simply seeking a “fair” deal for both parties.

Earlier this month, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that the Pirates had put forth a six-year, $76MM offer as their most recent bid to keep Reynolds on a long-term deal. Mackey reported in January that the two sides were around $50MM apart in their talks. Reynolds didn’t offer specifics this morning but acknowledged that reporting on the situation has been generally on the mark. “Pretty much everything out there has been fairly accurate,” the outfielder said (via Mackey).

All indications from Reynolds are that the situation remains unchanged. Nevertheless, it’s of some note that the 2021 All-Star not only specified that the bridge hasn’t been burned but added that a deal to keep him in Pittsburgh remains his hope. Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington has maintained since Reynolds’ trade request became public that his own hope — and the goal of the organization at large — is the keep Reynolds long term. Whether ownership will greenlight a substantial increase in the offer and whether Reynolds would be willing to come down on his own asking price in a compromise will be determined over the next several weeks, in all likelihood.

The “fair” deal mentioned by Reynolds is, of course, a subjective term — but there’s some relevant context to consider. Pittsburgh’s offer to Reynolds has at least one recent service time comp: newly acquired Braves catcher Sean Murphy, who signed a six-year, $73MM extension earlier in the offseason. However, while both players have between three and four years of MLB service, it’s a flawed comparison for many reasons. Murphy was arbitration-eligible for the first time and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a relatively modest $3.5MM salary. Reynolds is a Super Two player who’ll be arb-eligible four times as a result; he already signed a two-year, $13.5MM contract covering his first two arb seasons last April — a sum that easily tops what Murphy would have earned going year-to-year in arbitration.

Even before Reynolds agreed to that two-year deal, Swartz had projected him for a $4.5MM salary in his first trip through the process. His two-year deal inherently values his second arbitration year somewhere around $9MM, then. Given that starting point and a pair of remaining trips through the process, Reynolds’ final two arb seasons will likely exceed $30MM on their own.

Viewed through that lens, if the Pirates’ offer began in 2024 (as Reynolds is already signed for 2023), it’d be valuing the player’s first four free-agent seasons somewhere around $42-46MM in total; Reynolds’ reported asking price more than doubles the annual value on those free-agent seasons. Even if the team’s proposed offer overwrote Reynolds’ 2023 salary, it’d “only” be promising him five years and $69.25MM in new money. Again, with his 2024-25 seasons likely topping $30MM on their own, that’d be a roughly $35-39MM value on three free-agent seasons.

Until the situation is resolved one way or another, trade rumblings surrounding Reynolds will abound. There’s no urgency for the Bucs to move him, as he can’t become a free agent until the completion of the 2025 season. The rebuilding Buccos hope to be contending by that point. However, the closer they allow Reynolds to get to free agency, the more the asking price figures to increase. A trade prior to the season seems unlikely at this point, but it’s possible teams could make a renewed push to acquire him over the summer.

Interest in Reynolds has understandably been heavy, both before and after his trade request. The Yankees, Rangers, Red Sox, Padres, Rockies and Marlins are just a few of the teams that have expressed interest in Reynolds, a 28-year-old switch-hitter with a career .281/.361/.481 batting line, 74 home runs, 97 doubles and 18 triples in 2014 big league plate appearances since his 2019 MLB debut.

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