Ke’Bryan Hayes, Mitch Keller among 30 pre-arbitration players Pirates sign for 2021

Ke’Bryan Hayes, Mitch Keller and others who figure to be long-term pieces of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rebuild agreed to terms on contracts for the 2021 season, the organization announced Friday.

Third baseman Hayes and starting pitcher Keller are among 30 pre-arbitration players who agreed to salaries at or near the MLB minimum. The signings are largely formalities, as players with less than three years of service time in the majors have no bargaining leverage and are even subject to having their contracts unilaterally renewed.

Hayes, Keller, outfielder Bryan Reynolds, infielders Cole Tucker and Kevin Newman and pitchers David Bednar, Geoff Hartlieb and Sam Howard are among the group of 30 who agreed to terms Friday who are virtual locks to make the Pirates’ Opening Day roster. Several others will be on the team come April 1, too.

The others who agreed to terms Friday: catcher Michael Perez; outfielders Antony Alford, Jared Oliva, and Troy Stokes Jr; infielders Rodolfo Castro, Oneil Cruz and Phillip Evans; and pitchers Tyler Bashlor, JT Brubaker, Blake Cederlind, Roansy Contreras, Wil Crowe, Austin Davis, Carson Fulmer, Max Kranick, Nick Mears, Luis Oviedo, Cody Ponce, Sean Poppen, Edgar Santana, Jose Soriano and Miguel Yajure.

The minimum salary for 2021 bumped up to $570,500. Most teams give players modest raises of a few thousand dollars each year until they become arbitration-eligible and can begin to command exponentially more.

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