Pirates May Explore Extensions With Young Players

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 2:24 am

Just saw on a couple sites that the Pirates may explore extending some of their younger players. It was nothing concrete, but they noted players like Musgrove, Reynolds and Newman could be candidates to try to extend. I would think they might consider attempting to get Hayes locked up in order to avoid Super 2, and getting him to the Majors much quicker.

DemDog · Post by **DemDog** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 1:23 pm

707C7D262F262E23243B21160 wrote: Just saw on a couple sites that the Pirates may explore extending some of their younger players. It was nothing concrete, but they noted players like Musgrove, Reynolds and Newman could be candidates to try to extend. I would think they might consider attempting to get Hayes locked up in order to avoid Super 2, and getting him to the Majors much quicker.

I could live with extensions for Musgrove, BR and Newman. As for Hayes, I wait until he can show he really belongs in the show for more than his glove. I know it is a gamble signing them to extensions and Nutting may not like to do that but this seems to be the trend in MLB right now.

psuinpgh21 · Post by **psuinpgh21** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 2:19 pm

Am I the only one who thinks Reynolds isn't going to be a long-term star? He doesn't have much power and his defense was iffy. And is Newman really that much better than Cole Tucker? Musgrove, sign him up.

Has there been any thought of moving Newman or Tucker to 3B for a year until Hayes is ready? I'd rather have Tucker in the lineup than Gonzalez.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 2:49 pm

3734322E2937202F7576470 wrote: Am I the only one who thinks Reynolds isn't going to be a long-term star? He doesn't have much power and his defense was iffy. And is Newman really that much better than Cole Tucker? Musgrove, sign him up.

Has there been any thought of moving Newman or Tucker to 3B for a year until Hayes is ready? I'd rather have Tucker in the lineup than Gonzalez.
I couldn't disagree more about Reynolds. Other than a brief time in the AFL, he's been a .300+ hitter at every level with no setback in his first taste of MLB pitching. That was pretty impressive. And rather than a fluke, it appears to be just a continuation of what he has always done throughout the minors. The only surprise was that he also developed power with 16 HRs after not hitting many in the minors. But that is not unusual for a lot of hitters as they get stronger and add power to an existing ability to hit consistently. I expect 20+ this year. I know the defensive metrics for him aren't great but watching him all last year he seemed perfectly adequate in the OF. I worry any time a ball is hit toward Polanco. But not Reynolds. He isn't flashy but makes the plays. He doesn't have great speed which I suspect detracts from his metrics. I think he's going to have a very good career.

Newman was a pleasant surprise last year after NH had decided his 1st round pick should be nothing more than a utility player and acquired utility player Gonzalez to play SS. Like Reynolds, Newman isn't flashy in the field but he was adequate and consistent. He had hit well in the minors but exceeded expectations with the bat last year.

Tucker looks like their best defensive SS. If he can become a better hitter, he will move Newman off short. Tucker will likely begin the season at Indy to get in as much batting as possible. That leaves Newman at SS with Moran and Gonzalez at 3B until Hayes is ready. Tucker could eventually push Newman to 2B with Frazier being a trade chip.

Javy · Post by **Javy** » Thu Mar 05, 2020 10:46 pm

I would certainly entertain extending Reynolds. Right now, he is possibly the brightest hope the Bucs have.

While I don't think he's comparable at this stage of his career, I would look at Yelich's first couple years and see if a favorable comparison is there. Yelich didn't show alot of power until he went to Milwaukee.

Maybe Reynolds develops in a similar manner...not to say 35-40 homers, but maybe 25+ annually. I'd take that.

Lecom · Post by **Lecom** » Fri Mar 06, 2020 4:52 pm

6A415659200 wrote: I would certainly entertain extending Reynolds. Right now, he is possibly the brightest hope the Bucs have.

While I don't think he's comparable at this stage of his career, I would look at Yelich's first couple years and see if a favorable comparison is there. Yelich didn't show alot of power until he went to Milwaukee.

Maybe Reynolds develops in a similar manner...not to say 35-40 homers, but maybe 25+ annually. I'd take that.

Total agreement on this on Javy and Possum. Sign him fast while they have a chance.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Tue Mar 10, 2020 4:39 pm

Ken Rosenthal is now reporting that the Pirates have contacted a few of the younger players with regards to extensions. It appears they may have contacted Hayes to see if there was any interest. If they sign Hayes prior to breaking camp, he will be the starting third baseman.

Lecom · Post by **Lecom** » Wed Mar 11, 2020 1:45 pm

363A3B6069606865627D67500 wrote: Ken Rosenthal is now reporting that the Pirates have contacted a few of the younger players with regards to extensions. It appears they may have contacted Hayes to see if there was any interest. If they sign Hayes prior to breaking camp, he will be the starting third baseman.

I admit that would surprise me but with what I have seen he should be a pretty good player as long as he can consistently hit MLB pitching

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johnfluharty · Post by **johnfluharty** » Wed Mar 11, 2020 2:30 pm

Sites list his agent as 'Ballengee Group'. Do we know anything about them?

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Mar 11, 2020 9:51 pm

Here's an article about possible extensions. The article raises the point that this might possibly be a response to the union's grievance against the Pirates.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnperrot ... 7208c112d2