Gerrit Cole, Jordy Mercer, George Kontos and Felipe Rivero were tendered contracts for 2018 by the Pirates prior to Friday's 8 p.m. deadline.
All four men are eligible for salary arbitration and each will receive a bump in salary, but the move secures their services for next season.
The next step for the players who have been tendered contracts is to either come to terms with the Pirates on a salary by mid-January, or exchange salary proposals with the team and start the arbitration process. If there is no deal by mid-February, an independent arbitrator will hear both sides’ arguments and assign a salary to the player. Specific deadlines will soon be announced.
Per MLBTradeRumors.com, the following are projected salaries for the arbitration-eligible Pirates. Major-league service time is expressed in years and days.
• Jordy Mercer (5.095) — $6.5 million
• George Kontos (4.171) — $2.7 million
• Gerrit Cole (4.111) — $7.5 million
• Felipe Rivero (2.162) — $3.1 million
This is the second of three arbitration-eligible seasons for Cole since he got into a squabble with the Pirates in 2015 over the team’s failure to apply a bonus to his 2016 salary. He made $3.75 million in 2017 and is set to become a free agent in 2020.
Although he allowed a career-high 31 home runs this season, he led the Pirates in fWAR.
Cole, who turned 27 in September and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting in 2015, had a 1.25 WHIP in a career-high 33 starts — 12 more than his injury-shortened 2016 — and had the second-highest strikeout total of his career while ranking third in the National League in innings. Additionally, he averaged 8.69 strikeouts per nine innings with a 3.1 fWAR — the second-best mark of his career.
But Cole allowed 1.37 home runs per nine innings — the seventh-worst mark in the National League — including at least one home run in 21 of his starts to finish with a 4.26 ERA which, according to ERA+, was 1 percent better than the league average.
This is the third and final year of arbitration eligibility for Mercer, who will become a free agent following this season. The 31-year-old shortstop batted .255/.326/.406 this season with a career-high 14 home runs and 58 RBI in 145 games. He made $4.25 million in 2017 and is projected to be the eighth-highest paid player on the roster next season.
MLBTradeRumors.com had him among candidates to be non-tendered — which would make Mercer a free agent — but the Pirates don't have any internal replacements ready and his product will still be somewhat of a bargain for the price.
The Pirates claimed Kontos, a 32-year-old right-handed reliever, off waivers from the Giants on Aug. 5. Although he spent 10 days on the disabled list because of a groin injury, Kontos proved to be a valuable addition with a 1.84 ERA and 15 strikeouts to only three walks in his final 14 2/3 innings of the season — most of which were in the eighth inning.
This is his third of four arbitration-eligible seasons, and he is currently the leading candidate to act as the setup man to Rivero in 2018.
Rivero, 26, emerged as one of the top closers in Major League Baseball after being named in that role by Clint Hurdle in June. When Daniel Hudson and Tony Watson faltered, Hurdle moved Rivero to the closer role and Juan Nicasio to the eighth inning. It worked wonderfully. Rivero had 21 saves with a 1.67 ERA and 88 strikeouts to only 20 walks.
He will not become a free agent until after the 2021 season, but he will become increasingly expensive as he begins the first of four arbitration-eligible seasons. Rivero made just $564,500 in 2017.