Tomorrow Is The Day To Exchange Arbitration Figures

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 1:14 am

I believe March 22 is the date to exchange player arbitration figures this year. I think only Brian Reynolds, and Chris Stratton are the two Pirates who did not come to terms prior to the lockout. It will be interesting to see how these two contract situations get resolved. I am hoping the Pirates can settle with both players rather than going to an arbitration hearing. I am dreaming, but I would like to see them sign Reynolds for a 5 or 6 year deal.

mouse · Post by **mouse** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 1:12 pm

I suspect you are dreaming and there are too many teams interested in Reynolds for the arb number to be too comfortable for the Pirates for more than one more year.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Tue Mar 22, 2022 11:28 pm

Jason Mackey is reporting that the Pirates and Reynolds have not agreed on a salary so the next step is to go to a arbitration hearing. The Pirates and Reynolds salary amounts have not been posted, but if they are somewhat close I wonder how the Pirates would present their case to the arbitrator. Reynolds hits for power, plays a solid centerfield, runs the bases very well, has thrown out runners from either left field or centerfield. He is a complete player, so in my opinion there is not much you can say negatively about his play. The one thing his agent could present would be a comparison of statistics to another player similar to him, and the amount that player was rewarded through arbitration.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:02 pm

It is being reported that Reynolds is asking for 4.9 million and the Pirates offered 4.25 million. I hope they are working towards a long term agreement because if they take their Star Player to arbitration over 650K Bob Nutting better get the heck out of Baseball, and purchase a Dairy Queen.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 12:33 pm

7975742F262F272A2D32281F0 wrote: It is being reported that Reynolds is asking for 4.9 million and the Pirates offered 4.25 million. I hope they are working towards a long term agreement because if they take their Star Player to arbitration over 65,000 Bob Nutting better get the heck out of Baseball, and purchase a Dairy Queen.
I can't see any reason why Reynolds would agree to a long term extension to remain with this organization any longer than he had to. He would be a valuable player to any team in MLB. Even if the Pirates made a generous offer, he could get generous offers from other teams in free agency when the time comes. In the meantime, by not agreeing to an extension, he would be assured of being traded a year or so before he could become a FA so as to avoid losing him with nothing in return. Such trades are normally to contending teams willing to take a chance on re-signing such players when their contract expires. So it becomes a win-win for the player who can agree to remain with the contending team that traded for him or opt for free agency to sign a generous offer with a team of his choice. As much as we would love for the Pirates to hang onto their best players, there is no incentive for the players to stay.

GreenWeenie · Post by **GreenWeenie** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 1:01 pm

Agree, Ster. I'd be out, so I won't blame a player who makes that decision.

Even when The Churn reaches full steam, Reynolds will be in his 30s. Full steam is only going so far. Rings are hard enough to earn. If he wants one, I would think that he would want to improve his chances by going elsewhere.

Bobster21 · Post by **Bobster21** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 2:02 pm

724750505B6250505B5C50350 wrote: Agree, Ster. I'd be out, so I won't blame a player who makes that decision.

Even when The Churn reaches full steam, Reynolds will be in his 30s. Full steam is only going so far. Rings are hard enough to earn. If he wants one, I would think that he would want to improve his chances by going elsewhere.
Exactly. Players seem to have 2 primary goals: make a ton of money (relative to what others make) and experience the excitement of pennant races and post season play as often as possible. And preferably as a key player. For most players, their prime years are mid 20s to early 30s. Reynolds will be a FA at age 31 in 2026. If he were to tie himself to the Pirates beyond that, he would likely be past his prime when he could negotiate a FA contract. And very likely worth less to contending teams as he hit his mid 30s. So the bulk of his prime years would be spent with a team that, at best, contends for a couple seasons as much as a shoestring budget allows. That might even work out. Other small market teams have occasionally done well and even won the WS. But why would a top player bank on that happening when there are better options? If Reynolds does not agree to an extension, he will likely be traded in 2024 or 2025 at age 29 or 30 and likely to a contender willing to give up prospects in hopes that Reynolds helps put them over the top. I can't imagine Reynolds wanting to sign an extension with the Pirates or an agent not advising him against it.

GreenWeenie · Post by **GreenWeenie** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 2:32 pm

On the previous board that some of us were on, I did a study of 16 years' worth of WS champion teams.

The average roster ages for position players....and pitchers was consistent. Pitchers were about a year older than position guys.

In only one of the 16 years, the Pirates players was older than the champions. It was one of the years when the Giants won

And, even that year, the Pirates weren't very much older.

Young teams will win.....but, not the ring.

And, much of a player's compensation comes from their YOS.

I believe that the Pirates will hold to their form. I see no reason to think otherwise. The focus won't move to experienced players, IMO.

fjk090852-7 · Post by **fjk090852-7** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 4:28 pm

I get everyone’s point, but in my opinion the difference between the two salary figures is less than the minimum salary a rookie gets this year. It is a shame that the Pirates are this cheap that they cannot settle with their best player. If they are this tight with their money it is time for Nutting to sell.

SteadyFreddy · Post by **SteadyFreddy** » Wed Mar 23, 2022 4:36 pm

794C5B5B50695B5B50575B3E0 wrote: On the previous board that some of us were on, I did a study of 16 years' worth of WS champion teams.

The average roster ages for position players....and pitchers was consistent. Pitchers were about a year older than position guys.

In only one of the 16 years, the Pirates players was older than the champions. It was one of the years when the Giants won

And, even that year, the Pirates weren't very much older.

Young teams will win.....but, not the ring.

And, much of a player's compensation comes from their YOS.

I believe that the Pirates will hold to their form. I see no reason to think otherwise. The focus won't move to experienced players, IMO. I think they can win and be a playoff team in a few years with all the young talent they currently have but I agree you gotta be able to add in some veterans both position player wise and in your pitching rotation to mix in with all the talented youth if you wanna have a chance at competing for a World Series or even getting to one for that matter. These young guys that are going to be apart of this core should be up here this year and getting them the experience they need so that they are that much better in a few years when they are expected to be pretty good.