Jordy Mercer, Gerrit Cole and George Kontos avoided arbitration by signing one-year contracts with the Pirates Friday, according to multiple reports.
However, the Pirates were unable to reach an agreement with Felipe Rivero. According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Pirates submitted a salary of $2.4 million before Friday's 1 p.m. deadline, but Rivero filed for $2.9 million.
The two parties can continue to negotiate prior to the arbitration hearing — which will be scheduled for sometime next month — but the Pirates typically do not negotiate a one-year deal after the filing deadline.
However, they could be negotiating with Rivero on a long-term contract.
Mercer will make $6.75 million in 2018, and Cole will also be paid $6.75 million, whether he's with the Pirates or another club. Kontos, meanwhile, will make $2.75 million.
The Tribune-Review was the first to report the signings.
The salary for Mercer comes slightly above the $6.5 million he was projected to receive in arbitration, and it's nearly a $2 million raise from 2017. The 31-year-old shortstop batted .255/.326/.406 this past season with a career-high 14 home runs and 58 RBI in 145 games.
Cole's salary will make him even more attractive to teams trying to deal for him this offseason. The Astros reportedly came close to acquiring the 27-year-old this week, with Jon Morosi of MLB.com reporting Wednesday that a trade was completed.
But it appears negotiations between the two clubs stalled. Perhaps the Astros became more aggressive in order to acquire Cole prior to Friday's deadline to exchange salary figures. Cole, who will become a free agent following the 2019 season, settled with the Pirates for nearly $1 million less than what he was projected to make through arbitration.
Cole, who 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.
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 to 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.
Under Major League Baseball’s arbitration system, players between three and six years of service time have the right to take their team to an arbitration hearing in order to determine a given year’s salary. Teams first have to offer contracts to players to start the process — that occurs in early December — followed by the exchange of salary figures in mid-January if the two sides can’t work out a deal prior to that point. If the process goes to a hearing, the arbitrator has to choose one figure or the other.