Opening Day came and went without any resolution on the long-running extension talks between Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates. Negotiations reportedly hit a snag when Reynolds’ camp pursued an opt-out chance following the 2026 season. The parties were apparently both amenable to tacking on seven years and $100MM to cover the 2024-30 seasons but didn’t reach a compromise on Reynolds’ desire to be able to test free agency midway through the deal.
The opt-out wasn’t the only issue, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports the Bucs were also resistant to including a no-trade clause. It’s not clear how adamant Reynolds is about receiving at least limited no-trade protection, though that’s perhaps another hurdle the sides will have to clear.
Sorting through the opt-out clause seems a tougher challenge than settling on no-trade rights. The Bucs already control Reynolds via arbitration through the 2025 campaign. A post-2026 opt-out would only ensure Reynolds sticks in Pittsburgh for one additional season. On a contract with guaranteed salaries running through 2030, that provision would give the All-Star outfielder relatively early flexibility to test the market while leaving the team with some extended risk in the event Reynolds suffers and injury or underperforms.
It’s not clear if the Bucs would be amenable to including an opt-out later on in a potential extension. Doing so after 2027, for instance, would ensure the club tacks on at least two more seasons of control. That might not be all that appealing to Reynolds, however. The switch-hitter is already 28 and won’t hit free agency until after his age-30 campaign even if he proceeds through arbitration. A post-2027 opt-out wouldn’t allow him to explore the market before he’s headed into his age-33 season, when the chance for a long-term free agent pact might’ve passed regardless.
Given the challenge of finding an opt-out date that could make mutual sense, Heyman writes the Pirates are open to “(moving) money around” in extension talks. Whether that’s merely restructuring the $100MM offer — which would’ve reportedly been backloaded — to get Reynolds more money up front or involves a boost to the overall guarantee isn’t clear. In any event, it’s apparent the Pirates aren’t closing the door on continued negotiations.
General manager Ben Cherington confirmed as much in a conversation with the Pittsburgh beat earlier in the week (link via Kevin Gorman of the Tribune-Review). “We’ve never had any team policy about (a deadline) on Opening Day,” Cherington said. “Out of respect to players and the team, we try to keep those conversations to the offseason and Spring Training. But if it makes sense for all parties to have a conversation during the season, there’s no policy against that. We’re open to that. … He’s playing well. From his play, it looks like he’s focused on the season. We’re focused on supporting him. If there’s anything more to talk about, we’ll keep that between him and us.”
Reynolds’ camp had reportedly pushed for an extension to be done by Opening Day. It’s not uncommon for teams or players to work beyond self-imposed “deadlines” of that nature if the sides are close enough a deal isn’t far out of reach. (For instance, Manny Machado and the Padres signed his extension a little more than a week after Machado’s initially proposed cutoff in February.)
As Cherington pointed out, Reynolds hasn’t seemed at all fazed by the absence of a Spring Training agreement. He’s off to a .340/.352/.720 start through 54 plate appearances. His five home runs are tied for third in the majors, one behind the six longballs of Pete Alonso and Ryan Mountcastle.
7yr/100M AND he wants to test the market, mid way thru the deal. We cant have that! We dont need 182 OPS+ that bad.
He’s under contract, and team control, right now. Unless you think he’s going to have an OPS+ of 182 for 7 years, it’s not really urgent. At all.
Its urgent because Nutting won’t pay him the $15 million he is projected to earn in FA and every day he is in a Pirates uniform he is worth less in trade.
Unless they get him extended now, they will trade him at the trade deadline or end of the season and get substantially less in prospects than they would have received if they had traded before this season started.
Keeping him to the trade deadline or end of the season won’t put one more fan in the stands. No one is showing up because Nutting has shown that he doesn’t care about putting a winning team on the field.
Before giving Reynolds an extension, demote Mathias
He’s worthless offensively and his fielding is suspect. And batting Choi against a lefty just because he hit a home run off of one recently is also one of Shelton’s boneheaded decisions
They won 5-0…. Just sayin……
just sayin what?
The won 5-0 with the lineup that @TheMan 3 complained about.
It takes an entire team to win a game. Mathias contributed 3 strikeouts and committed an error playing second base. The other players made their positive contributions
He’s 0 for 10 in 3 games
7/100 seems really light for a player of his caliber.
Agree. 7/$125 looks better, especially considering Nimmo’s deal
Hes averaging 4.5 war per season. seems super light. should be in the 7yr 150mil range at a minimum
metslvt17 & Idosteroids;
Nimmo was in his free agent years. (And Nimmo can pay CF.)
Learn about a teams rights to 6 years of control and how how MLB salaries are broken down.
So can Reynolds.
I understand the arb process. They are a similar type of player for sure. Excpet Nimmo has been injury plagued through his first 7 MLB season as he has had only 2 fully healthy seasons. Neither of these guys will get a gold glove, but Reynolds has been better than Nimmo up to this point in his career.
padam;
Reynolds can play CF like Jazz can play CF.
Reynolds is an LF (and Jazz is a 2B).
Idosteroids;
Sorry, you don’t understand the process at all.
Reynold is under team control for 2 more years. It didn’t matter what Nimmo did his first 6 years when he signed his latest contract. He was a free agent. Reynolds is not a free agent. He can go to arbitration the next 2 years if he wants, and they will not give him anywhere near the AAV Nimmo is getting.
I’d also suggest that Reynolds is nowhere near the OF that Nimmo is – particularly in CF (although Nimmo has a weak and inaccurate arm).
That comparison doesn’t work. The transition from LF to CF is not the same as 2B to CF.
Just looked at DRS and zone rating for Nimmo. Sure, he can play CF. Just a little better than Bryan Reynolds.
Save the agony. Just trade the guy for a cache of solid prospects. By the time the Bucs get good, Reynolds may not be. Just sayin;.
I bet the Astros would love him in CF.
trade him to the marlins for Sixto, Braxton and max
Sign or dont sign these opt out clauses are bad business. Stay or go. Fyi $100m is Definitely enough for anyone for 6 yrs.
Why do you think they are bad business?
Club standpoint – they may dodge a bullet and the player opts out and they can reallocate the funds elsewhere.
It certainly has more pro for the player and it should. What if Reynolds signs based on his love of Pittsburgh and their promise of building a competitive team going forward. Couple years later, Pittsburgh is still the same and they dismantle everything. He is stuck for 7 more years with a non competitive team of which has a less than desirable lineup and his numbers outside of walks go down because pitchers aren’t pitching to him. that isn’t a scenerio most competitors want to be in.
In my opinion, opt outs ARE VERY bad for business. You need to either be “in” or “out”, but opt outs are being HALF WAY “in”.
@mlb fan, I hear ya, but I’m more inclined to think it puts more pressure on the club to invest in the team or player A will leave, ultimately I think opt outs are inflation/market adjusters opposed to just bad for business.
Then he can sign a shorter deal.
Opt-outs are stupid. He’s good, he goes. He sucks, he stays. Not that hard.
@bronx, the trend has been to offer longer years so less AAV. Also remember, the club has to offer a shorter contract, of which, would probably have a higher AAV and thus a team like Pittsburgh is less likely to offer
No opt outs. If Reynolds wants commitment from the brass, he needs to show the same.
If Reynolds is under team control for 3 more years, what possible sense would it make to offer an opt out after four years? All this bruhaha for one extra year? That makes zero sense to me.
Nutting is not willing to offer any commitment. He won’t commit to keeping Reynolds for the duration of the contract and he won’t commit to putting a team around Reynolds that can actually win.
In the absence of either of those two things, the only one that has made a commitment is Reynolds who has committed. He committed to taking a huge cut in pay in order to either win or have the ability to leave a sinking ship being sailed by Nutting while letting Nutting keep most of his money.
Or he could not sign a deal at all and go year to year in arbitration and make $15 million next season and $20+ million the season after that and then go to a team committed to win in FA after that. He would earn substantially more money that way. .
@Jopeness, extending a player and paying him more only to give him an opt out year this season he’d hit free agency would b asinine. They’d b better off just letting him go through arbitration. The whole point of these early extensions are a few free agency years cheaper for the franchise and piece of mind for the player. What Reynolds is asking is just more $ for the next few seasons and if all goes well opt out and get even more.
Bryan Reynolds isn’t anyone. He is a MLB player. There are only 900 of those at any one time. That makes him special. More than just anyone. An average of a little over 16 million for a player of his caliber is a great deal!!!
The Pirates should figure this contract out and come to an agreement. I really hope they do!!!
“$100m is Definitely enough for anyone for 6 yrs.”
One million over six years is more than enough for somebody to live very comfortably. Do you think owners should only play the players what they need in order to survive? That’s not how life works.
Triggered opt-out based on team record so he isn’t stuck on a losing team after 2026 with a small penalty
Partial no trade after the 2025 season.
Player option to trigger opt out on trade negotiated before trade.
Add mutual options to the end to allow Bryan to retire as a pirate
Makes sense to me… but you know just an opinion
The penalty is that the deal which starts with the 2024 season is heavily backloaded with 70% coming after 2026. .
Yeah, I was thinking of something like if he signs for less on another team then he sends back a small portion.
I’m not sure. If a player opts out, can the team put a QO on him? if so then that is more than enough and get rid of that penalty thought. I’d rather have a draft pick than a “small” amount of cash
Yes a team can QO a player who opts out.
So far, Reynolds seems to be playing the season with hopes of either they trade him due to his current success or they are going to come to the table with an amazing offer.
There’s very little chance they will trade him considering he remains under control for 3 more years
SMH at how ridiculous your opinion is
@TheMan 3
Soto isn’t a FA until 2025, yet, the Nationals traded him last year. I guess the Nats GM also had a ridiculous opinion.
who said anything about Soto?
Again I shake my head
@TheMan 3
Same number of years before FA.
The Nationals were in a massive salary dump so trading Soto didn’t come as a surprise.
The Bucs have already gone through their salary dumps and rebuilding
Three times a charm anyone?
SMH
The Pirates are ALWAYS in salary dump mode. They will lose 90+ this year and Reynolds will be gone along with anyone else making more than about $3 million not named Hayes. Maybe even Hayes if he doesn’t turn his season around.
Hill, Santana, Hedges, Cutch, Choi, Velasquez, Garcia, Stephenson. All will be gone along with Reynolds.
@TheMan 3
Last time I checked, the Pirates weren’t spending money like the Dodgers and Yankees. They’re always dumping salary so why would it make a difference this time with Reynolds?
Last I checked the Bucs were considered a small market franchise and naturally don’t have the deep pockets like the Yankees or Dodgers
You seriously can’t be that blinded by reality
Unless you have a crystal ball; YOUR opinion is rather arrogant and “ridiculous”. If the Pirates get a very good offer, Reynolds may be gone tomorrow. After all he’s not Babe Ruth.
Arrogance no, reality yes.
Their asking price is equal to what the Nationals received for Soto which means it’s too high to initiate a trade
Apparently you’re not the fan you claim to be
Nutting has traded every single player that started earning what they were worth. Even a player like McCutchen who Mutting said would be a Pirate for life when he signed his long-term deal.
As long as he puts up career average numbers, after this season Reynolds is going to get around $15 million in arbitration for 2024 and an even larger salary in 2025. The Pirates WILL trade him if they don’t sign him before the end of 2023.
Hayes hasn’t been traded so your logic doesn’t apply
I’m so tired of shaking my head today
I’m so tired of that loud rattle when you do.
Unless he’s continually lying in interviews, Reynolds says he loves playing in Pittsburgh and wants to be a Pirate. He’s playing his natural position and now has bats behind him which means pitching around him isn’t an option
I don’t know that the Pirates will compete in the next couple years but it’s kind of unimaginable that they trade him now with Cruz out and Hayes in a funk
Pirates farm is looking alright but no doubt could use a few more arms, trade him to a team willing to give up some arms and expedite the rebuild
aussiegiants53;
Right now the Pirates rebuild is nothing like the Orioles (that started their rebuild a year later); a bit better than the Royals and Tigers were; and not even as good as the Phillies rebuild before Dombrowski came in, spent money, rebuilt the ML roster, the minor leagues rosters and approach, and the way the ML coaching staff was working the players.
Ben Cherington was hired after the 2019 season, and had to completely revamp the Pirates Baseball Ops department (same as Mike Elias had to do with the O’s year later).
Currently they’re playing veterans Jason Delay (until Austin Hedges comes back), Carlos Santana, Ji Man Choi, Andrew McCutchen, Connor Joe as position players; and Rich Hill, Mitch Keller, Vince Velasquez, Duane Underwood Jr., David Bednar along with others on the pitching staff – not exactly a group of players in their prime other than Bednar.
Cruz is not a SS. Ke’Bryan Hayes is not playing like anyone special. The best thing Jack Suwinski has going for him is that he’s young. Ji Hwan Bae seems like a quality defender, let’s see if he can hit. Rodolfo Castro looks very good at times.
The only things the Pirates have going for them at the ML level is Reynolds in LF (he’s not a CF) and possibly Roansy Contreras.
Bryan Reynolds is in his 5th season with the Pirates. He has yet to play a meaningful baseball game. From the looks of the young players on that roster, who know when he’ll be able to. It seems like he’s trying to force a trade to a contender. That’s not being unreasonable.
Hayes had 4 bWAR last year all in his glove.
I prefer to have him play the next 3 years and offer a QO. Get his prime a maybe one extra year
– Jason Delay is 28, Hedges is 2 years older. So is Underwood. They’re the same age as Bednar.
– Mitch Keller just turned 27.
– Hayes is an above average player even if he’s never more than average at the plate. He’s the best defensive player in all of baseball regardless of position. See his WAR so far in his career and defensive numbers. He’s going to win the next several Gold Gloves at Third Base.
Just a few immediate inaccuracies.
– The current team has Keller, Contreras, Oviedo, Holderman, Cruz, Bae, Castro, Hayes, Suwinski, Smith-Njigba, Moreta, and Hernandez all contributing at age 26 or younger when the season started (and Delay, Reynolds, Underwood, Crowe, and Bednar are 28)
It’s interesting to me that you took the worst case scenario for every Pirate and never acknowledged the minor league depth they have. Endy Rodriguez, Luis Ortiz, Michael Burrows (prior to his injury), Quinn Priester, Travis Swaggerty, Henry Davis, Jared Triolo (once his wrist is healed), Malcolm Nunez, Tucupita Marcano, Matt Gorski, etc., etc. are all within a calendar year of playing in the Majors. And they have Termar Johnson coming down the pipeline and the #1 pick in this years draft. The rebuild is going fine and they’re competitive this season and should be a playoff contender by next season. I still need to see the end results to call it a success, but so far so good.
“Latest On Pirates, Bryan Reynolds”
Again?
7 years and $150 million seems fair. I wouldn’t put in any opt-outs because unless his skills decline quickly its all but certain he exercises them and then all of this drama was for nothing
Yeah Samuel, Reynolds has yet to play a meaningful baseball game, except for that game earlier when he drove in 6 runs with a home run, triple and single
SMH so much today it’s spinning
Every team has to approach this type of situation in a manner that makes sense for them. Maybe there’s a mid-ground between timing of opt-out and no trade, because what a team like the Pirates surely can’t afford is to have to keep a player whose performance is either sub-big-bucks-par or where the team is not competitive, Maybe the opt-out is linked to the no trade–he can use the no trade but then loses the opt-out (or it is deferred for an additional year). Or, maybe the player is just too expensive to keep, especially when you already have control
Pirates should tell Reynolds to pound sand.
Then trade him at the end of the season when they realize he will make $15 million in arbitration. WAY too rich for Mutting.
That’s why their trying to get a deal done now
Jeez it’s mind boggling of how simple logic alludes people on this thread
Man, Why does simple logic escape you so often?
A few facts that also escape you. Reynolds won’t sign a deal without the opt out and the full NTC. He made that clear. Nutting won’t pay him $15 million in arbitration next season or $20+ million the year after that. So at some point this season or in the offseason to come Reynolds WILL be traded if he is not given both the opt out and the NTC and the contract is signed.
Reynolds knows, like anyone that has been paying attention since Nutting was given control of the team by his family, that Nutting will not keep him on the team until the big money hits on a backloaded deal if given a choice. That is why Reynolds asked for a full NTC.
Reynolds has a pretty good idea that regardless of what is promised, Nutting won’t take the millions the team is saving on the deal and invest it in more good players to put around Reynolds. If he was certain that Nutting was a man of his word, then he would not have asked for an opt out at all.
Don’t even try to say the opt out is about money. As pretty much everyone in the media who have written about it has reported and also many commenters on here have said on this thread, 70% of the money on the deal would have been paid after the opt out passed, so Reynolds would be leaving most of the money on the table in order to leave. The opt out is NOT about money, its about being stuck on a losing team.
The money he would be opting out of doesn’t matter. All that matters is can he do better in free agency. Other players have opted out of more money than that.
Quick! Name 3 players who opted in when they could have done better in free agency or opted out when they couldn’t do better in free agency (I already gave you 2).
What’s with you and the mute button?
Just keep him motivated and see at deadline if some club will suddenly offer 2 incredible near ready stud prospects that weren’t in offseason. If that is not attainable even in event of a great first half (+2.5yrs control)…..then market is telling Pirates not to bid against themselves.
It’s going to end up biting PIT in the ass one way or another that they couldn’t get the deal done earlier.
What I think is likely; is that Reynolds comes through with a big season and commands another $50+ or so million added to the total of the contract.
What could also happen; is that he has a down year; then the offer gets lower, and he’s DEFINITELY leaving. At least, I think it could be safely assumed.
Asking for the opt out is unnecessary, but he’d probably want more money if he didn’t have the opt out. The Pirates should increase the dollars some if he’s willing to drop the opt out request. Feels like there’s room here to get a deal done.
Latest on Bryan Reynolds- Yawn.
The two sides won’t come to an agreement.
Reynolds wants to win so he wants an opt out if Nutting continues to do what is his M.O. In other words be cheap, trade away players once they are earning even close to what they are worth, and field losing teams.
Reynolds also wants to be able to pick where he is traded to once he starts to get expensive on a back-loaded, long term deal. Hence the no trade clause.
What I think is probable is that –
Reynolds has a monster year.
Cherington approaches Reynolds agent about an extension only to find the price has gone up substantially, but the terms (opt out and ntc) haven’t. That is a no go for the cheap bleep Pirates owner.
Nutting realizes that Reynold’s agent will submit an arb figure north of $15 million and Nutting tells Cherington to trade him. They get far less than they would have this past offseason.
Reynolds is playing in pinstripes or blue in 2024.
another Nostradamus predicting that Reynolds will be playing for the Yankees next year
You have competition
Captain Judge predicted he’d be in pinstripes for 2023
BIL, Agree with everything you said except his landing place.
“BIL” is you lol.
Reynolds wants the shot to go FA or get paid what he and his agent feel he will be worth after 2025. Given his age, I can’t blame him. The Pirates will be winning by 2025 but that won’t keep Reynolds in the Burgh. Don’t blame him.
Whining? I agree. Winning? No chance.
He wants the opt-out so he can go get more money if the market says he is worth more than what is left on his contract. Has nothing to do with wanting or not wanting to win. He’ll opt out if he and his agent think he can beat his remaining contract even if the Pirates just won the World Series.
BaseballisLife and websoulsurfer are the same guy on two different accounts.
@harambe So? Lots of commenters use multiple accounts. I care more about him understanding that opt-out decisions are generally motivated by money and nothing else. For every Nolan Arenado or AJ Burnett you get 1000 Stephen Strasburgs or Ian Kennedys.
If he is willing to leave $70 million on the table, then its not about money. Its about EXACTLY what Reynolds and others have said its about.
It’s truly sad that you are so jaded even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
He’s not leaving $70m on the table with this contract. He’s leaving some money on the table in 2024-26 in exchange for the 4-year player option that will be exercised if and only if it is worth more than he is at that point. Stephen Strasburg opted out after the Nats had just won a World Series. So will Reynolds if it comes to that.
Its a $100 million deal with $70 million of it to be paid after 2026 on a heavily backloaded deal. If he opted out, he would be leaving $70 million or 70% of the money on the table.
That is really not that hard to understand. Why are you having such a hard time with it?
Strasburg opted out of $90 million over 4 years, of which $70 million was deferred without interest, to get $245 million. Are you seriously trying to say the two situations are analogous?
What I’m saying is that as much as people like to prognosticate about this player would never opt out because this team is so good it happens all the time in reality. It’s tough to predict what Reynolds’ market will look like in 3.5 years but I don’t see him pulling a “Nolan Arenado.”
Your boy Manny Machado straight up said he would opt out if the Padres hadn’t extended him by that point and he has way more of a legacy in San Diego than Reynolds could ever even hope to have in Pittsburgh. That only 30% of Reynolds’ contract will have been paid out by the time his opt out date rolls around doesn’t matter. If he wins MVP and can reasonably expect someone to offer him $150m+ after 2026 he’s not going to say, “No, I can’t opt out! I’d be leaving 70% of my first contract on the table!”
Nothing Reynolds has ever done or said points to him just wanting the most money possible. Guys that want the most money possible do not offer to take a $50 million discount to stay. He would make more money the next two years in arbitration than the deal he offered to sign would have paid in the first 4 seasons. He offered to have the deal be so heavily backloaded that he would be leaving the lion’s share of the money on the table to leave.
ALL of that info we have points to a different conclusion than you came too. So, one of two things is possible. Either you are right and everyone else is a wrong and everyone in the media lied about what is going on with this situation, or you are wrong. I am going with the latter.
Except the info says that Nolan Arenado and AJ Burnett are the only players ever who have taken wanting to win into account when deciding whether or not to opt out.
It’s not a $50m discount. Especially when you take into account the post-opt-out money. $106m is a lot of money.
If it was truly about wanting to play for a contender the opt-out would be contingent on the Pirates not spending above a certain amount or not winning a certain number of games (is that allowed?)
We both know you’re just hoping I forget this discussion by the time this hypothetical future opt-out rolls around.
That is how extensions work. The player gives up some money upfront in exchange for the long-term financial security If Reynolds signs that extension and then god forbid suffers a career ending injury in his very next game that money is guaranteed no matter what. And then the opt-out essentially allows the player to have the best of both worlds.
If Reynolds doesn’t sign that deal, he earns $35 million or so in arbitration, About double what he would make in that time frame in the deal.
In a deal that is not so heavily backloaded, you would be right. In this case Reynolds would take peanuts the first few years and leave 70% of the deal on the table if he opted out. The team makes out like a bandit. They get his best years for less than they are paying Hayes annually and then he leaves before the big money comes due.
If he has a career ending injury, the team is screwed if they sign him to ANY deal. They are stuck paying him through the whole thing. If that is their fear, they are better off not signing him to a deal at all.
Actually they wouldn’t make out like bandits because Reynolds will only leave if he can get even more money in free agency. If he can get more in free agency, then he would at least figure to draw some trade interest if it weren’t for the opt-out. So the opt-out either deprives the Pirates of a superstar signed for below market value or a valuable trade chip.
Whoosh. That is the point going over your head…again.
Reynolds is not just asking for an opt out, he is asking for a full NTC. He doesn’t WANT to be traded. He just wants to be able to get out of their when Nutting continues to be a cheap A$%^$^ and the Pirates continue to lose year after year.
The opt out would not diminish his trade value because his trade value would be a moot point with a full NTC.
If he opts out after 2026, the Pirates got his age 29, 30, and 31 seasons for half of what it would cost them in arbitration and FA and they save $70 million that would be paid for his age 33-36 seasons . They make out like a bandit.
1. NTC’s can and do get waived.
2. They don’t save any money because they would just have to pay even more to replace his production if he opts out.
3. A player who you have signed for less than he is worth on the market opting out =/= “making out like a bandit.” The Red Sox certainly didn’t make out like bandits when Xander Bogaerts opted out, for instance. Or the Reds when Nick Castellanos opted out.
If Reynolds gets hurt and does not opt out, the Bucs are screwed worse as they would be be paying huge money on a player not producing an it appears he wants some type of no trade clause as well so they would have trouble even attempting to trade a bad contract. Can’t really blame either side in this deal not working out and if he plays great, the Bucs should be able to move him for a really good return.
Ok, NOW the Pirates made out like bandits.
Those would be logical landing spots. They have the prospect capital to get it done and can afford to extend him long term.
Those are certainly not the only contending teams that would be interested in Reynolds. Atlanta needs a replacement for Rosario. Houston would do well to move Alvarez to DH and put Reynolds in LF.
Pay the man!
A little background on the player and family. Reynolds is married to his high school sweetheart Blair, and they have been dating or married since 2012.
As a high school prospect, he said that stability was his primary goal, so he was going to get a college degree so that they, he was already thinking about family, would have something to fall back on if baseball didn’t work out.
He chose Vanderbilt not only because it has a great baseball program with a chance to win a national title, but because it was close to his family’s home in the Nashville area and in the same city as Belmont University where Blair was going to college. Blair said that they were thrilled when he was promoted to Augusta in the Carolina league in 2016 and even more thrilled when the Giants traded him to the Pirates in 2018 because he would be closer to home. He would get to play in Altoona and Indy before being called up to the Pirates.
Reynolds was part of a money slashing deal by Nutting that sent Pittsburgh icon McCutchen to the Giants.
Bryan and Blair have 2 young children, 2 years old and 1 years old, and have said often that they want stability. for their kids
Bryan has already agreed to financial terms with the Pirates that are a large “home town” discount and heavily backloaded. For that large discount, about $50 million less than he originally was seeking, and with the big money paid down the road, he wants two things.
#1 To play on a winning team. He is taking less money than he is worth, especially upfront, so that the team will have money to spend on other players to create a winning team. He wants the team to give him an opt-out just in case they do not spend that savings. Nutting can SAY he wants to build a winner in Pittsburgh, but his past actions don’t give much confidence that he will actually do so. After all he said McCutchen would be a Pirate for life and traded him a year later. Reynolds wants to protect himself from Nutting lying again. Because of the heavily backloaded agreement that would start with the 2024 season, if he opted out after 2026 Reynolds would be giving up 70% of his possible earnings on the deal.
#2 To choose where he is traded to once his salaries start to go up at the back end of the deal. Hence the full NTC. If Nutting does what he has always done and wants to trade away Reynolds once he starts to make big dollars, then at least Reynolds can say NO, I don’t want to play so far away from home. Pittsburgh is 500 miles or a 90-minute flight from Nashville.
If he has another season around 4 WAR, his career average in full seasons, Reynolds is going to get REAL expensive for Nutting in 2024. Somewhere around $15 million next season and even more in his final season of arbitration in 2025. Both of those years he will earn a higher salary by going year to year than the AAV would have been on this deal. But he is seeking stability. He knows his worth and is willing to accept much less money to get that stability.
OK. The TL;DR is over.
Reynolds plays into the Pirates approach of emulating Tampa Bay. (Quick…. Can anyone name more than 3 Rays players?)
But he’s really in a unique situation. On one hand, he undoubtedly can bring back more prospects to build further toward the Rays model of :
-sign and develop prospects
-keep them under financial control
-watch them grow and matriculate through the farm system
-bring to MLB level, grow, compete
-when they are no longer feasible, trade for prospects that continue this process
As stated by @YourDreamGM, this was the Pirates M.O. under Huntington until the playbook went up in flames during his last year or two
The result was a gutted minor league system and MLB team devoid of any chance of competing for a couple years
Cherington has put the Pirates back within that blueprint. The problem is identifying exactly where they are. It’s fashionable to say they’ll compete next year or the year after. This year was supposed to be a bridge that bought more time for budding stars and a chance for the kids to gain further experience. I have to believe the idea was to build this rise around Reynolds, no matter how much they ballyhoo Hayes
But with Cruz gone and both Brubaker and Burrows injured, and with Hayes and Suwinski continuing to look anemic at the plate, I have to wonder if they are recalculating where they are and if Reynolds fits. Are they a couple years away from being TB, or 5?
To me, that’s the determining factor here
Difference is the Rays win consistently. The Pirates lose consistently.
The Pirates are going to lose at least 7 guys to FA and you can be sure that Nutting will trade Reynolds after this season.
In typical Nutting fashion they will allow the peak trading value to pass and get less than they could have.
But Nutting is not going to pay $14-15 million in arbitration in 2024 and that is what Reynolds will get if he can put up another 4 or 5 WAR season.
The only question is what other team will Reynolds be playing for then?
That’s only because the playbook got trashed at the end of Huntington’s tenure. Agree with you—this is what they aspire to. Look at the “ glory years” of ten and twelve years ago and it rivals the Rays. Difference was, the Pirates couldn’t touch Tampa in terms of scouting and player development. And it became obvious when the Pirates waved goodbye to the stars they could no longer afford.
You’re 100% right, but you’re not touching on the reason.
This is what Cherington is trying to do—get back to where the team on the field is competitive AND the minors are stocked so they can continually reload with financial control
My point is, I don’t think they are anywhere near that next step of being competitive. Maybe in a few years.
And this is why the Reynolds situation is fascinating. Do they agree and continue to stock with the idea they aren’t there yet, or do they believe they are on the cusp, with Reynolds as the catalyst?
To me, the injuries push it all back a year at least. And at some point, there has to be some understanding as to who guys like Suwinski and Hayes are
Incidentally, seven guys?
Santana
Choi
Hill
Velasquez
Hedges
Cutch (who I think will retire here)
I count six and say, who cares? These guys aren’t being counted on as part of the process anyway
No it doesn’t. The Pirates, after 14 straight losing seasons to start this century, had 2 good seasons and one decent season in a 3 year span before they returned to being losers. Over the last 4 seasons their win percentage is under .400. They haven’t won a pennant since 1979.
baseball-reference.com/teams/PIT/pittsburgh-pirate…
Its actually 10 guys.
I’ve been a fan since I was 5. That means I go back to the Forbes Field days and really, don’t need a history lesson from you.
You’ve missed the point completely here. The Huntington regime had the exact charge you discussed earlier but the bottom fell out where scouting and player development are concerned. Unless everything is in place, there’s no use having a model to emulate at all and again, it all became quite evident when the stars of those two good seasons you point to were let go and the guys brought in to take their place either performed miserably or themselves were traded for a run at a wild card berth
Again, they were proceeding with the model but certainly didn’t have the formula or the stick-to-it-iveness. (If that’s a word)
I’ve been there with the cheapskate views of McClatchy and Nutting. I understand the enormous profits they have made and are making. But instead of knee jerk viewpoints like yours, I can at least see what their plan was and marvel that they either lacked the willpower or the personnel to pull it off
And again, your free agents? Who cares?
Lmfao. 2007 to today = lots of losing. Being delusional seems to be a common long time Pirates fan malady.
The Pirates have 9 FA and one option at the end of the season. If they decline the option on Garcia who is on the 60 day IL right now and trade Reynolds, both of which are expected, that means 46% of the roster is likely to be different come opening day 2024.
You either don’t seem to understand or need a remedial reading course. I’m AGREEING with you
Sheesh. You win, ok?
Congrats
Yeah, we all realize what the franchise has done in the past 25 years. Complete train wreck
All I’ve tried to do is provide the reasoning
Thanks for the Wikipedia update that nobody asked for.
#FreeBryanReynolds
#thingsBobNuttingwants
With every day that it doesn’t happen, that’s a day that he’s closer to being out the door. He won’t be in Pittsburgh next year if a deal isn’t worked out.
They should trade him back to the Giants, for Gabe Kapler. We’ll even throw in Farhan Zaidi
8 years/$130M opt out after 4 years/$60M. Simple. Done.
He’s already said that he’d sign for an additional 7/$100mil with a backloaded contract and an opt out after 2026, so pay him $10mil in 2024, $14mil in 2025, $18mil in 2026, and the remaining $58mil in 2027-2030. You get one year of his FA and you’re paying him no more than he would have gotten paid thru arbitration.
The way its currently structured, Reynolds would get $30 million for 2024-2026 and $70 million for 2027-2030.
The projections are that he will get around $35 million in arbitration for 2024-2025 ($15 mm and $20 mm) and the FA year would be worth more than $25 million. That is double what the Pirates would be paying for those years under the deal.
If they don’t want to give him the opt out and NTC, then pay him the 6/125 extension he asked for last season after the Pirates offered him 6/75. Or pay him the 7/134 he entered extension talks with this offseason.
Its really not that difficult. They either pay the cash or pay with an opt out and NTC or trade him.
Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Wrong answer, but thanks for playing.