Bryan Reynolds, Pirates headed to arbitration as team never offered long-term extension

BRADENTON, Fla. — Bryan Reynolds and the Pittsburgh Pirates are headed to an arbitration hearing, and the All-Star center fielder said the club never offered a long-term extension to avoid the process.

Reynolds reportedly asked for $4.9 million while the Pirates countered with an offer of $4.25 million, and they failed to come to an agreement on a settlement. The Pirates are a “file and trial” team, opting for a hearing before an arbiter instead of continuing to negotiate a deal.

“They didn’t say anything about an extension, so it wasn’t really on our minds,” said Reynolds, who turned down an extension offer last spring. “I would have obviously liked to reach an agreement so we didn’t have to do this now. But, like I said, that’s part of the game, too, so.”

Reynolds, 27, is in his first year of arbitration after a season in which he slashed .302/.390/.522 with 35 doubles, tied for the MLB lead with eight triples and had 24 home runs and 90 RBIs. He was selected to his first All-Star Game and was an NL Gold Glove and Silver Slugger finalist.

After earning $601,000 last season, Reynolds was projected to make $4.5 million this season. That sounds reasonable, given his 6.0 WAR last season. Pirates reliever Chris Stratton avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $2.7 million deal, $500,000 above his projected price.

When Reynolds wasn’t playing in the Pirates’ Grapefruit League game against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday, he was spending his down time on the phone with his agent.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Reynolds said. “This was my first time doing it. I guess we had one thought, and they had another. I don’t know. Here we are.”

The Pirates don’t have any players under contract beyond the 2022 season. A pair of free-agent signings, catcher Roberto Perez ($5 million) and first baseman/designated hitter Yoshi Tsutsugo ($4 million) are the highest-paid players on the team, so Reynolds is poised to become the Pirates’ second-highest paid player. Reynolds understands that arbitration hearings can be testy but appeared unperturbed about going through the process.

“I can handle myself just fine,” Reynolds said. “I know it can get messy in a hearing. But I’m an adult. I can handle it. I don’t care. I have a pretty good idea of what’ll be said and all that. We’ll prepare, and we’ll be fine.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton doesn’t expect the arbitration hearing to bother Reynolds.

“I don’t think anything affects Bryan Reynolds,” Shelton said. “I think that’s the one beautiful thing about him is he stays the same all the time. And it’s wise, (given) the caliber of player he is.”

After being acquired from the San Francisco Giants in the controversial Andrew McCutchen trade in January 2018, Reynolds made a strong debut by batting .314 with an .880 OPS, 37 doubles, 16 homers and 68 RBIs as a rookie in 2019.

Reynolds, however, slumped in his second season when he batted .189 with seven homers and 19 RBIs in 55 games amid the covid-19 outbreak that shut down the sport for almost four months. He believes that year was an anomaly, one by which the Pirates shouldn’t be judging him.

“I mean, I made it pretty apparent,” Reynolds said. “I feel like since then, it would be silly to put a bunch of emphasis on a 60-game pandemic season. I guess when it comes down to it, we’ll see. Yeah, I don’t want to be defined by that. I feel like I’ve kind of turned a page on that.”

Despite being the subject of trade rumors before and during the 99-day lockout, Reynolds said he wants to win with the Pirates. He added that he remains open to signing a long-term contract extension with the Pirates, even though he has turned down at least one previous offer.

“It doesn’t change anything about the way I feel about Pittsburgh or anything like that,” Reynolds said. “Any of my teammates or the team or anything like that. I understand it’s part of the game.”