The Pittsburgh Pirates want to keep outfielder Bryan Reynolds around, sensing that they are just a year or two away from being competitive.
The outfielder requested a trade, given that the team only offered $76 million over six years and he is worth much more than that.
Trade offers haven’t met the Pirates’ asking price, so everything is halted as of now.
The Pirates, however, are ready to make another move to try and keep their star in Pittsburgh.
“Sources: Pirates are trying to extend CF Bryan Reynolds, before the season if possible. The Pirates previously had offered about $76M for 6 years but were so far apart Reynolds requested a trade. Bucs want to keep him though. FA after 2025,” MLB insider Jon Heyman tweeted.
Sources: Pirates are trying to extend CF Bryan Reynolds, before the season if possible. The Pirates previously had offered about $76M for 6 years but were so far apart Reynolds requested a trade. Bucs want to keep him though. FA after 2025.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 24, 2023
We are not contract specialists, but we are guessing $12.6 million per year for an All-Star who is still 28 and has 51 home runs and 9.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) in the last two years is laughable.
With how rich the contracts has been in the last offseason, Reynolds’ camp could be pushing for closer to $20 million per year and a longer commitment.
The Pirates still have “cheap” control over Reynolds for three more seasons, but with each passing year, they lose more and more leverage for a hypothetical trade.
Extending him should be the priority, and would represent a nice change of events after losing so much talent in recent seasons because they don’t want to spend money on their top players.
Lots of teams are interested in a trade, but the ball is in the Pirates’ court.
They can either make the player a competitive offer or trade him so he can get paid elsewhere.
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