Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLB Trade Rumors reports that the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a pre-arbitration deal with relief pitcher Jason Grilli for $1.1 M. The deal is about $300 K more than the MLBTR estimate for Grilli. The Pirates acquired Grilli from Philadelphia last year due to a clause in Grilli’s contract that said the Phillies had to release him if another team wanted him on their major league club. After joining the Pirates he put up a 2.48 ERA in 32.2 innings, with a 37:15 K/BB ratio.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Does it usually take this long to sign ppl??? Was expecting to see the signings of Kars, Morton…… also with McGehee does that mean G.Jones is not coming back???
Tonight is only the deadline to tender a deal to a player, meaning that an offer sheet is extended that basically says “You’re neato and we would like to potentially have you on the team next year”
Teams have until early February, if I remember, to negotiate freely with that player or else take them to an independent arbitration panel. That’s made up, typically, of non-baseball arbiters who look at counting stats and have no idea about ERA+, wOBA, or UZR/150.
The McGehee trade is the reason it takes so long to sign people. The Grilli signing is another example. They’re busy working on trades and pre-arb negotiations. At the end of the night they can just submit the paperwork for anyone they need to tender.
Gotcha So no worries needed…Cant wait for my Copy of Pirate Prospects to come in!!!