Pirates Come to Agreement With All Nine Arbitration-Eligible Players

The arbitration deadline was yesterday, and the Pirates were able to settle contracts with all nine of their arbitration-eligible players. We look at the future of some of these players and what it means moving forward.

Friday was one of the busiest days of the 2020-2021 off-season for the Pirates to date. It was the start of the International Free Agent Signing day, the Pirates signed Minor League Free Agent Wilmer Difo, and rumors continue to swirl. Lost in the hustle and bustle of things was the arbitration deadline, and the Pirates had nine arbitration-eligible players. However, the Pirates will not be heading to any hearings, as they agreed on contracts with all nine eligible players for 2021. With the salaries set, it gives the Pirates a better idea of where they are at salary-wise and gives interested teams a number to gauge how much they would owe some of the Pirates top trade chips.

The nine players that the Pirates came to terms with are Steven Brault (2.05 mil), Adam Frazier (4.3 mil), Joe Musgrove (4.45 mil), Kyle Crick (800k), Richard Rodriguez (1.7 mil), Chad Kuhl (2.13 mil), Colin Moran, Jacob Stallings, and Chris Stratton. All nine players made significant contributions to the Pirates in 2021, but a lot of them have already been involved in several trade rumors. The two biggest trade rumors have been surrounding Adam Frazier and Joe Musgrove, but guys like Brault, Kuhl, and Rodriguez have all gotten at least some interest. Just because the Pirates signed all nine candidates does not mean all nine are going to be back in 2021. It just gives the Pirates a better estimate of where they are money-wise. We look at the top nine guys and see who is likely to be dealt, and who will stay in Pittsburgh for 2021.

Likely to Be Dealt

As with any team that is going through a rebuild, there is bound to be turnover as they build up the farm system. With the Pirates, it is no different, as we have already seen with the trade of Josh Bell. As mentioned before, the two most-likely trade chips for the Pirates are Musgrove and Frazier. Both are at their highest value right now and could bring the Pirates back a nice haul of prospects. Musgrove has already gotten interest from teams like the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants while Frazier's market hasn't been as well defined. However, as one of the best second baseman available on the market, and could garner some interest from teams who lost out on the DJ LeMahieu sweepstakes.

After those two players, the next two likely to be dealt are starting pitchers Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl. Both had breakout years last year and could provide the Pirates with a nice package of prospects. The most valuable of the two would probably be Steven Brault, who went 1-3 with a 3.38 ERA over 11 games, 10 starts, last season. His best start came against the St. Louis Cardinals on September 17th against the St. Louis Cardinals when he tossed his first career complete-game allowing one earned run over nine innings. He is a quality left-handed starter, who could provide rotational depth to any team that needs it. He featured a new approach where he said he was "A Freaking Throwing Machine" and it paid off over his final two starts as he allowed just one earned run in his final 16 innings of work.

With Chad Kuhl, there comes a bit more questions after recovering from Tommy John Surgery. After a strong start to the 2020 season, Kuhl kind of fizzled out in the end going 2-3 with a 4.23 ERA. After posting an impressive 2.95 ERA in the month of August, Kuhl came back and posted a not-so-impressive 6.33 ERA in the month of September. Most of the struggles came in one outing when he gave up nine earned runs in 2.1 innings of work on September 13th. He cleaned things up in his final two starts, allowing one run over his final 12.1 innings of work. Kuhl is another pitcher who has garnered interest from teams like the Blue Jays and even San Francisco.

Likely to Stay

While those are some of the most likely to be dealt players, there are also some who the Pirates are likely going to keep for at least the 2021 season. The most likely to stay for the 2021 season is Colin Moran, who will likely be the team's first baseman on Opening Day. He had a career-year in terms of power last season hitting .247 with 10 home runs and 23 RBI. With the loss of Josh Bell this season, Moran will serve as the team's clean-up hitter and will get a full-time chance at first base. It was Moran's power that enticed the Pirates during the Gerrit Cole trade, and he will be able to show that power in 2021.

With the bullpen in such disarray in 2021, the next player who is likely to return for this season is Richard Rodriguez. Rodriguez stepped in as a closer last season and performed well pitching to a 2.30 ERA over 23.1 innings of work. After Kyle Crick's ineffectiveness and Nick Burdi's injury, Rodriguez was asked to step in as a closer and ended up converting four of his five save opportunities during the season. He had a career-high strikeout rate of 13.11 per nine innings of work. He is once again expected to be the Pirates closer again in 2021 and should be back leading the young Pirates bullpen to the future.

The final member of the arbitration class who is likely to start is long-reliever Chris Stratton. Stratton was one of the team's most consistent relievers last season, finishing the year going 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA over 30 innings of work. After struggling through the first three seasons of his career, Stratton has seemingly found his way with the Pirates. For the first time in his career, he struck out more batters than innings pitched and was used the most out of anyone in the bullpen. He specializes as a long-reliever and was used as the second half of a piggyback several times throughout the season. He will once again be used in a long-relief role and will be used to help eat innings that the Pirates starters can't get through.