Bryan Reynolds

SammyKhalifa · Post by **SammyKhalifa** » Fri Dec 09, 2022 6:00 pm

437D7870637B7B705075627126140 wrote: Mets are bringing back Nimmo for 8 years at 162 million. I think Reynolds is better than Nimmo, so I could not see the Pirates paying that much for Reynolds. I admit that Nutting pinches pennies, but some of the players salaries are becoming off the chart.

yeah, I could see that Reynolds camp would say that Nimmo is a comp. Nimmo is free agent but older than Reynolds too. He will be 30 at start of 2023 season. Nimmo is only a comp because Reynolds still has arbitratio n years. [highlight]This probably means that if Reynolds goes for arbitration is last couple of years he will make close to $20 million a season. The Pirates are going to decide to pay him soon or deal him.[/highlight] Not that my predictions have been great but I think one or the other will happen before spring training.

Nimmo has an injury history, has never hit 300 or had 20 homers and isn't a switch hitter.

Nutting's past actions are the best indication as to what decision the Pirates will make regarding Reynolds. It's inconceivable to think that a Pirates player of Reynolds's stature will ever be paid the market rate price that other players of that ability receive. We should never be surprised when guys like him are dealt away.
The current Reynolds situation only accentuates what we know all too well about how Nutting's Pirates operate. They don't trade for established players with Reynolds' skill set because players like that come with large contracts that Nutting refuses to pay. They don't sign free agents with Reynolds' skill set because players like that require large contracts that Nutting refuses to pay. They don't retain their own top players when doing so would require large contracts because Nutting refuses to pay. They busted their own myth of "spending when the time is right" by blowing up the 2013-2015 playoff teams instead of spending after receiving the revenue of record attendance in 2015 and having the 2nd best record in MLB. Neither revenue nor performance impacts spending in this organization.

The current process of "building" with prospects (either drafted or traded for) and supplementing with reclamation projects, 2nd or 3rd tier free agents and waiver wire acquisitions is not a precursor to a larger plan of assembling a strong roster by acquiring key players from other teams and paying their own top players to stay. No, what you see is what you get. They are not really building other than benefitting from whatever progress the prospects make before they are traded away for new prospects before they can leave as free agents and make the money they can't make as Pirates. The wins will increase as the young players improve through experience. But then the best of those players have to be moved and replaced by new prospects.

How good will the team be with Cruz, Hayes, Contreras, Suwinski, Castro, Castillo, Peguero, Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, Bae, Priester, etc before the best of that lot are moved to avoid paying them market value? Keller is a FA in 2026. So his time as a Pirates will be up in 2024 or 2025 when he is traded with some control left on his contract. That is the process awaiting any of the prospects who find success as Pirates. So they aren't actually building. They are just planning on whatever improvement they can enjoy from the permanent strategy of fielding a team using maturing prospects, reclamation projects, free agents passed over by other teams and waiver wire acquisitions. The revolving door policy will never create a championship team.

I think you just stated Bob Nutting's business plan.

You certainly have hit the nail on the head. I for one, even though I will always be a big Pirate fan, have resigned myself to the fact that as long as this bozo owns the team, your assessment is 100% correct. Also, no salary cap in baseball will doom us for eternity unless Nutting sells.

It still mostly comes down to how the TV deals work. The reason the NFL can have the system they do is because they split the TV money more or less evenly.

Anyhow, I'd maybe be interested in seeing what Reynolds might return. He's our star but he's not Cutch, and probably not Jason Bay either.

Surgnbuck · Post by **Surgnbuck** » Fri Dec 09, 2022 7:54 pm

So, we won the first ever lottery pick, and have the best revolving door in MLB.

There are just some things you have to latch onto to placate the heart of a Pirates fan.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:11 am

As time goes on, I am on the fence regarding the Reynolds situation. Every time a player requests a trade you cannot accommodate him. The Pirates have a contract with him for the upcoming season, and possibly why not go through arbitration with him for 2024, 2025, and then let him walk. Many players who are better then him have become free agents, and signed contracts with new teams. In this scenario the Pirates retain him for the next 3 seasons.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Mon Dec 12, 2022 2:54 pm

My guess as to why they might not do that? The arb generated salary might be higher than the highest amount they've ever offered on a long-term contract.

gileszee · Post by **gileszee** » Mon Dec 12, 2022 10:20 pm

Reynolds is worth 8 years, 200 million in the open market right now. I think the Pirates keep him for another year and trade him at the 2024 trading deadline.

Surgnbuck · Post by **Surgnbuck** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 6:38 am

If Reynolds is worth 20 million a year, then go through arbitration twice, offer qualifying offer which he'll turn down and get a comp pick in the draft. They could very well go this route.

Speedloader88 · Post by **Speedloader88** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 1:18 pm

I remember meeting with Bob Nutting while he was getting fuel at the Sheetz in Wheeling, WV. This was when die hard fans were just starting to talk about a long term McCutchen contract and before your average newspaper fan was thinking about it. I asked him what he thought it would take to get something done with Andrew and he immediately pivoted to Austin Meadows, who was playing for Indianapolis at the time. He began trying to sell me on this phenom in the minors. I knew that day that he would never.....ever..... under any circumstances, resign McCutchen :'(. I suspect that if I met him at the pump today and asked about Bryan Reynolds, he would immediately talk about Swaggerty or Marcano or Andujar.......

2drfischer@gmail.c · Post by **2drfischer@gmail.c** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 3:06 pm

Bob Nutting pumps his own gas?

Ecbucs · Post by **Ecbucs** » Tue Dec 13, 2022 4:06 pm

173136232A2631272F440 wrote: If Reynolds is worth 20 million a year, then go through arbitration twice, offer qualifying offer which he'll turn down and get a comp pick in the draft. They could very well go this route.

that isn't a bad option for a team that is contending. Hopefully the Bucs will be by 2024,

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Fri Dec 16, 2022 8:45 pm

745253445242310 wrote: If Reynolds is worth 20 million a year, then go through arbitration twice, offer qualifying offer which he'll turn down and get a comp pick in the draft. They could very well go this route.

that isn't a bad option for a team that is contending. Hopefully the Bucs will be by 2024,

As I think about it this is a good option. Also I wonder if they would offer Reynolds a contract for somewhere around 35 million for the remaining two years of arbitration. They would have him through 2025, and then make him the qualifying offer after 2025, and see if he accepts or walks. The Braves, Dodgers, Red Sox and Giants just to name a few teams left players reach free agency this year. The Pirates can do the same with Reynolds after 2025.