Hacker, Brian Reynolds agrees two-year deal to avoid arbitration

Pirate and midfielder Brian Reynolds They agreed to a two-year contract to avoid arbitration, ESPN’s Jeff Bassan reports (Twitter link). The deal covers the 2022-23 campaigns and does not affect the team’s contractual window of control. Reynolds is a CAA Sports client.

It’s a $13.5 million guarantee, reports Jason McKee of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter). $6.75 million will receive identical salaries in each of the next two seasons, Add Rob Birtumpfel, Athletic player.

maki books Last week the Buccaneers were hoping to secure a two-year deal with Reynolds. As he pointed out, the Bucs are the “file and trial” team, meaning that they refuse to discuss one-year agreements with players once the deadline for exchanging arbitration numbers has passed. This is a fairly common practice throughout the league, although one team has established itself.

By creating a precedent that they won’t continue negotiations after scoring day, the logic goes, teams can deter players from scoring in large numbers in hopes of solidifying further discussions from a high starting point. If the team and player go to a hearing, the arbitrator chooses one of the desired characters for the side rather than picking the midpoint. This motivates both to apply for a salary reasonably in line with established precedent, as it is unlikely that a party in either direction will be judged fairly at a hearing.

On the other hand, going to a hearing with a star player like Reynolds isn’t ideal. The 27-year-old has emphasized in the past that he won’t be bothered by the process, but also acknowledged that the inherently adversarial arbitration process can sometimes get “messy” (Link via Macy’s). Signing a deal for two years after registration day allows the pirates to confirm that they have not violated the “file and trial” policy while avoiding the possibility of angering one of their best players.

In Reynolds’ view, he keeps profits secured over the next two years without delaying his path to free agency. This season he will also earn more money than he would have even if he won a hearing. Camp Reynolds applied for a salary of $4.9 million; The team responded with $4.25 million. Pittsburgh will surpass Reynolds’ coveted mark this year to prevent the possibility of him getting a significant boost in 2023 with another big season.

Both sides are certainly happy to avoid hearings over the next two years, but Reynolds’ long-term status with the organization is not affected much by today’s news. This was his first of four seasons of ARB eligibility as a Super Two qualifier. Unless another agreement is reached at some point, he will head through the judging process again in seasons 2023-24 and 2024-25.

Reynolds can be controlled until 2025, his 30-year-old campaign. He reportedly rejected an extension offer from the Bucs ahead of the 2021 season and said at Spring Training that the organization had not reached out to him seriously about a long-term deal this year. Birtumpville Tweets The two sides discussed various potential contract structures in the past. It stands to reason that they would eventually put renewed efforts into a long-term agreement.