Positional Breakdown: Who will join Reynolds in outfield? taken at PNC Park (Pirates)

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Jack Suwinski.

With the 2022 regular in the books and the offseason approaching, this is the fourth installment in a six-part series taking a look at the Pirates' roster and where they need to focus as they prepare for the 2023 season.

In the outfield, the Pirates have a bona fide All-Star in Bryan Reynolds, but is he going to stay in center field in 2023, and who will join him in the oufield?

PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER

Cal Mitchell, Bryan Reynolds, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Jack Suwinski, Travis Swaggerty

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Ben Gamel

SEASON STATS

Team Outfield: .227/.304/.383, 61 HR, 175 RBI, 3.2 fWAR

Notable Individual Performers: Bryan Reynolds .262/.345/.461, 27 HR, 62 RBIs, 3.0 rWAR; Jack Suwinski .202/.298/.411, 19 HR, 38 RBI, 1.3 WAR; Cal Mitchell .226/.286/.349, 5 HR, 17 RBI, -0.4 WAR; Greg Allen .186/.260/.271, 2 HR, 8 RBIs, -0.1 WAR; Ben Gamel .232/.324/.369, 9 HR, 46 RBIs, 0 WAR

SEASON AT A GLANCE

Reynolds got off to a sluggish start, meaning he did not reach the highs of his 2021 season, but he was still nominated for a Silver Slugger and unquestionably the best hitter in the lineup.

Who joined him in the outfield was a revolving door. Jake Marisnick, Ben Gamel and Cole Tucker were the early season options, but only Gamel made it through the end of the year. That was somewhat expected though because three rookie outfielders -- Jack Suwinski, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Travis Swaggerty -- were added to the roster in the offseason, and Cal Mitchell had his contracted selected midseason. The goal was to give young players an opportunity, and while Smith-Njigba suffered a season-ending wrist injury a few games into his promotion and Swaggerty only got a very brief cameo in June, both Suwinski and Mitchell showed flashes on offense, albeit inconsistently.

To add a wrinkle to any outfield plans for next season, Reynolds played the penultimate game in left field instead of his normal center. The reasoning was to give Ji Hwan Bae another look in center field during his September call up, but after a poor defensive season in center, it could be a sign of things to come with Reynolds.

“We view him as a center fielder going forward," Derek Shelton said at the end of the season. "We view him next year, depending on our personnel, being our center fielder."

PROSPECTS ON THE RADAR

After being named their minor-league player of the year in 2021, Matt Fraizer never clicked in 2022, struggling at the dish in Altoona for most of the season. He's now Rule 5 eligible, meaning the Pirates have to give him a roster spot and hope he bounces back or leave him off for a year and hope he sneaks through the draft. Either way, it's a gamble.

Speaking of players who are Rule 5 eligible, Matt Gorski missed a good chunk of the season (and a spot in the Arizona Fall League) due to injuries, but was outstanding in the batter's box this season, even if he is still a work in progress. The 24-year-old right-hander can also play first base, which is perhaps the biggest area of need in the Pirates' roster.

Going to the lower levels of the system, Lonnie White Jr. was injured for most of 2022, seemingly putting him behind many of the other players in last year's draft class. Hudson Head, one of the main players the Pirates got back for Joe Musgrove, struck out in one-third of his plate appearances for Class High-A Greensboro in a fairly underwhelming season. Lolo Sanchez, the organization's minor-league baserunner of the year in 2021, is eligible for minor-league free agency unless the Pirates add him to the 40 man roster, which doesn't seem likely after he posted a middling .673 OPS with Altoona.

WHO IS ON THE MARKET

Reynolds' name is going to pop up in trade rumors again this winter. The team has had no interest in trading him to this point and unless they are absolutely blown away, they aren't moving him. But they still aren't in a position where they can hang up on a team that asks about him, so expect some rumors.

Reynolds has a contract in hand for next year for $6.75 million and two years of arbitration control after that, but there is always the possibility of extending him beyond that, even if it wasn't brought up before he signed his two-year deal in April to avoid arbitration.

"I can only really control what I can control," Reynolds said on the subject at the end of the season. "The offseason starts in a few hours and I’ll sit down and think about what I need to do to get better and then just start working for that. Whatever happens outside of that, happens."

There are plenty of outfielders on the roster already, but don't rule out the possibility of the Pirates maybe bringing in a player or two on bargain or minor-league deals. The Pirates have been linked to Kevin Pillar in the past. Ben Cherington and Jackie Bradley Jr. share a Red Sox connection. Chad Pinder is defensively versatile and has a little pop from the right-hand side of the plate. And of course there is the waiver wire and the possibility of bringing in someone via trade, either for a major or minor-league player.

WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?

2023 could be a precursor of what's to come with this outfield, especially with Reynolds. If they don't extend him, then they might have to more seriously entertain trading him if the team doesn't significantly improve. Trading Reynolds would only push back their window of contention, but with only three years of control remaining, there might not be a lot of overlap between when the Pirates are competitive and before he hits free agency.

As for the rest of the outfield, they have internal options. Ideally, that competition will result in a couple of quality starters. This area could be a strength in 2023 if competition does bring the best in players, which is more or less what this rebuild is built around.

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