SARASOTA, Fla. – It’s been an eventful spring training for Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates.
Teams have continued to call to try to acquire the All-Star center fielder. The club, internally, would prefer to keep him long-term, but did not offer a multi-year deal as they tried to settle for a 2022 salary and avoid arbitration. Since they failed to reach a one-year deal, Reynolds will be going to arbitration, making him the first Pirate in five years to do so.
So where to start?
How about with the impending arbitration case, which will take place shortly after the regular season begins at an undetermined date.
Arbitrations can sometimes, as Reynolds put it earlier this spring, get “messy,” which is why most teams and players try to avoid the process.
“I do believe that we will continue to have a good relationship with Bryan no matter what, and he's going to be a really good player,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington told traveling media at LECOM Park Monday. “If the hearing is what's needed to resolve it, we'll get there and get past it. Move forward.”
On Reynolds’ end, he reaffirmed his affections for being a Pirate this spring.
"It doesn't change anything [about] the way I feel about Pittsburgh or anything like that,” Reynolds said the day after the deadline to file. “Any of my teammates or the team or anything like that. I understand it's part of the game."
However, 31 players across baseball did not reach a deal to avoid the process this year, which could possibly be attributed to the shortened negotiating window because of the lockout.
“We'd always prefer to settle,” Cherington said. “We generally prefer to avoid hearings with players, but we're also not going to allow that, and Bryan won't allow that, to be a distraction of any kind.”
The Pirates are a file-and-trial team, meaning that if the two sides did not reach a deal before the deadline to file salaries, they go to arbitration, barring an unexpected case such as reaching a multi-year deal. A source, and Reynolds, told DK Pittsburgh Sports the latter did not happen this winter.
A few players have recently avoided arbitration by reaching a deal late in the process, including Trey Mancini of the Orioles and Harrison Bader of the Cardinals. When followed up on why not continue to negotiate to settle, Cherington said he did not want to comment publicly on any contract conversations with a player and reiterated "our first choice would always be to avoid a hearing."
The club filed at $4.25 million. Reynolds and his ageny filed at $4.9 million.
That low salary, three additional years of control and Reynolds’ excellence as a player has made Reynolds a trade rumor darling, even if the Pirates aren’t interested in dealing him.
They do, however, feel they have to due diligence and listen to offers.
"He’s a really good player, young, and we’re not winning yet,” Cherington said. “You combine those things, and teams are gonna call.
“Those calls are incoming calls,” he added shortly after. “They’re not outgoing calls."
MORE FROM THE GM
• Last week, the Pirates optioned top prospect Oneil Cruz to Class AAA Indianapolis, making him one of the few top prospects who will play at that level. Going by Baseball America's top 100 list, three of the top five prospects in the spot -- Julio Rodríguez of the Mariners, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals and Spencer Torkelson of the Tigers -- are set to make their major-league debuts opening day, with teams bypassing the option to try to keep them in the minors for a while to try to retain an extra year of control. Several other top 100 prospects, like Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene of the Reds, also are getting that call.
While Cruz has virtually no experience in Class AAA, playing just a week and a half at the end of the season there, Lodolo has pitched just 6 2/3 innings at that level and Rodríguez is making the jump from Class AA.
"I think we have to think about every individual player as its own individual case and trust the Tigers have more information on the players that they're making those decisions on than we would, and so we've got to make decisions about Oneil based on the information we have," Cherington said. "Every player is different. Every decision we make is made so in our opinion so that it puts us in the best possible position to win as much as possible as soon as possible. And that includes with Oneil. We want him to impact the Pirates at the highest level possible, help us win as many games as possible. And so, in order to do that, if he is the fullest adult version of himself, and we put him in a situation where when he comes into the big leagues and hopefully stays there."
Cherington said there are "specific development goals" that the organization has for goals, many of them Cherington opted not to share publicly. He did cite defense as one, both in terms of versatility and to make sure he is put in the best position to succeed at shortstop.
When leaving the meeting after being told he wasn't making the team, Cruz passed director of coaching and player development John Baker and told him, "I'll be at Pirate City in the morning."
"I thought he handled it exceptionally well, and he'll get a chance to start a season here very soon in Indy," Cherington said.
If Cruz finishes in the top two of National League rookie of the year, he will be credited with a full season of service time, regardless of how long he is in the majors. If any of the other aforementioned top 100 prospects finish in the top three of their league's Rookie of the Year voting, the club will receive bonus draft picks.
• Comments from Cherington on Diego Castillo, who made the opening day team, can be found here.
• According to a source, the Pirates have made a long-term contract offer to Ke'Bryan Hayes recently.
Cherington opted to keep any details private, only offering that "we hope to have that door open and find common ground with guys over time."