The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to trade outfielder Bryan Reynolds at some point in 2023 and probably before the start of the season.
However, they aren’t going down without a fight, it seems.
According to MLB insider Jon Heyman, they made a recent offer to the star outfielder.
“The Pirates offered Bryan Reynolds a six-year contract worth $75 million, per @JonHeyman,” Talkin’ Baseball tweeted.
The Pirates offered Bryan Reynolds a six-year contract worth $75 million, per @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/koN1Ht46tT
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) January 6, 2023
The only problem with that offer is that it doesn’t come close to the valuation his agents (and the league as a whole) have on him.
Essentially, the Pirates lowballed one of their star players in a desperate attempt to keep him in Pittsburgh.
Here is what Heyman wrote about the situation:
While sources say the Pirates offered over $75 million for six years with no team options, Reynolds’ camp originally mentioned the $168 million, eight-year deal Matt Olson received as a comp (though their request was lower than that). The Braves did sign Sean Murphy for $73 million over six years (plus a team option), and Murphy is in the same class as Olson. (The Reynolds camp would counter that that deal is low.)
Reynolds is worth much more than $75 million.
For starters, he is not a pre-arbitration player anymore: the three remaining team control years he has are arbitration seasons.
That means he won’t earn the minimum anymore.
He is young (27), accomplished (.281/.361/.481 career line with a 126 wRC+ and 51 homers in the last two seasons) and in his prime.
In any case, he is much closer to being worth $20 million per season or more than the $12.5 million the Pirates think he deserves.
