Pirates issue Contracts to Three Players Before Non-Tender Deadline

The non-tender deadline came and went last night and the Pirates agreed to contracts with three of their arbitration-eligible players. Erik Gonzalez, Michael Feliz, and Jameson Taillon all agreed to deals while the rest will go to arbitration.

Wednesday's non-tender trade deadline came and went and the Pirates kind of skidded around the date. They agreed to contracts with three of their arbitration-eligible players and decided to go to arbitration with ten others. The three players who agreed to contracts for the 2021 season were infielder Erik Gonzalez, Right-Handed Pitcher Michael Feliz, and Right-Handed pitcher Jameson Taillon. The other ten players who were arbitration eligible will head to the arbitration process, which runs through January 15th, 2021. The Pirates did lose one player on Wednesday as they decided to non-tender reliever Clay Holmes, making him a free agent.

The three players that the Pirates have already agreed to contracts with will not have to go through the arbitration process. There isn't necessarily a dollar amount attached to these agreements, with Erik Gonzalez being the only announced figure, but the players are at least guaranteed a contract for 2021. The signings clear up some of the roster questions that remained for the Pirates as Ben Cherrington and his staff still see something in these players. Today, we will look at all three players who were tendered contracts for next season and see how they impact the roster shape-up for 2021.

Erik Gonzalez (1.229 Million)

The first of the three players to sign was infielder Erik Gonzalez. Gonzalez is the only one of the three players who signed for a defined dollar amount and will return to the Pirates infield mix. Gonzalez hit .227 with three home runs and 20 RBI, in what was a crazy 2020 season. He had stretched where he was one of the best hitters on the team, hitting .349 by mid-August, and other stretches where it seemed like he couldn't hit a beach ball. However, when everything was said and done, he ended up leading the Pirates in batting average with runners in scoring position (.343). He also found the gaps on a more consistent basis and led the Pirates with 17 extra-base hits on the season, including 13 doubles.

The signing of Gonzalez sort of provides answers to the middle infield question that has been plaguing the Pirates. Right now, the Pirates have six middle infielders on their 40-man roster (Rodolfo Castro, O'Neill Cruz, Kevin Newman, Cole Tucker, and Adam Frazier). Now obviously, Castro and Cruz aren't expected to make the opening day roster, but that still leaves four people for two spots. Gonzalez isn't going to sign for over a million dollars to sit on the bench, so you figure there will be a defined role for him. With rumors circling about an Adam Frazier trade, the signing might have confirmed that the Pirates are actively shopping the second baseman. Either way, Gonzalez will look to show that his success in 2020 wasn't a fluke, whether that be as a starter or on the bench.

Michael Feliz - (Guarenteed 2021 Contract)

Probably the most surprising of the Pirates signings on Wednesday was right-handed reliever, Michael Feliz. Feliz has had mixed reviews since coming to the Pirates in the Gerrit Cole trade and dealt with forearm issues all last season. He appeared in just three games and went 0-0 with a 32.64 ERA in just 1.2 innings pitched. The right-hander dealt with a right forearm sprain that kept him out for most of the season. When Feliz came to the Bucs in 2018, it was a rough start to his career as he went 1-2 with a 5.66 ERA. However, just one year later, he turned it around having his best season in the MLB. He posted a 3.99 ERA in 56.1 innings of work and struck out 30.5% of the batters he faced.

With the Pirates needing veteran bullpen help, this signing made sense because Feliz is established in the middle of the Pirates bullpen. The biggest thing he needs to work on is the amount of home runs he allows during the season. Since coming into the league, Feliz has allowed the highest rate of home runs per nine innings at 1.47. He allowed a career-high 11 home runs in 2019 and allowed one last season in his 1.2 innings of work. With Feliz dealing with shoulder issues and then the forearm issue each of the last three seasons, hopefully, he is back to full health in 2021. The Pirates need a consistent reliever in 2021, and this is Feliz's chance to show that he can step up and be that leader.

Jameson Taillon (2.25 million)

Probably the least surprising of the three players who agreed to a contract was starting pitcher Jameson Taillon. After missing the entire 2020 season with Tommy John Surgery, it was expected that the Pirates would bring their leader of the starting pitching staff back. Because he didn't play last season, he will make the same amount that he made in 2019, 2.25 million dollars. Taillon hasn't pitched in a game since May 1st, 2019, and only appeared in seven games that season going 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA. Injuries have plagued Taillon throughout his professional baseball career, with two Tommy John Surgeries and a bout with testicular cancer just to name a few. 

He has only made more than 30 starts one time in his MLB career and that was during the 2018 season. It was also his best season in the MLB as he went 14-10 with a 3.20 ERA over 191 innings of work. When healthy, he has shown that he can be one of the most dominant pitchers on the Pirates staff. However, a second Tommy John Surgery is very hard to bounce back from and that right shoulder will be a big question in 2021. Look for Taillon's pitch count to be limited at least at the start of the year as he tries to ease back in the rotation. However, if he comes back and pitches even half as well as he did in 2018, the Pirates could be featuring a dangerous starting rotation with Taillon and Mitch Keller leading the way.

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