An extension for Gregory Polanco has been a hot topic this year. The Pirates made Polanco an offer during Spring Training, which was rejected. Earlier this week, Polanco said he was still open to negotiations on a deal. Jon Heyman has the latest on where the two sides stand, which apparently is still far apart.
Heyman says that the Pirates have made a few offers for different lengths, including one believed to be a ten-year extension, starting in 2015, which would have paid a total of $75 M. Heyman says the majority of the money would have come through non-guaranteed option years.
The original extension offer was for seven years, with three option years. That would have started in 2014, so this new offer would give the Pirates one additional year. The reported salary of the original deal was up to $60 M, but that was believed to include potential Super Two raises. It’s hard to say how the new offer compares, since it probably doesn’t include Super Two raises, and it includes an extra free agent year. It is for more reported money, but that extra year could be a big part of that.
Heyman says that the current offers are thought to be only slightly higher than the ones during the Spring. He also says that the belief is that it might be hard to give Polanco more than Starling Marte got, since Polanco has only been in the majors for a few weeks, and Marte was in the majors for a year and a half before getting his deal.
Both sides are discussing deals, as Heyman says Polanco has countered at least two times. He says that those deals also aren’t much lower than his previous counter offers.
It seems that both sides are sticking to their initial demands, and inching closer to each other. Heyman says the Pirates new offers are slightly higher, and Polanco’s new offers are slightly lower. That doesn’t make it sound like a deal is close. I still wouldn’t be surprised if a deal eventually gets completed, as it seems both sides are really interested in an extension. I just wouldn’t expect a deal anytime soon.
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.
Just pay this dude.
From everything that the Pirates have said and done, much more is expected from Polanco than from Marte. So trying to use Marte’s contract as a basis for Polanco’s is folly.
I don’t think anything less than $90 mill for 8 years gets this done, unless half of it is guaranteed as opposed to the $25 mill guarantee in the first proposal. If Polanco does indeed reach 5 WAR during the next two seasons, his three arb years alone will look like $9/$13/$18, or $40 million combined. Add two FA years where his market value would be around $50 mill (or more), so you’re already at $90 without counting the first three pre-arb years. And the Bucs would still be getting more than $100 mill excess value over the term of that deal.
If the Pirates get him for anything less than $11 mill/year for a long term deal with at least two years FA bought out, I’d consider that a major coup of negotiating on Neal’s part.
10 years, $120 million? $12M per year is not much for a 4 to 5 WAR player. It would be a huge raise for Polanco right away. It would eliminate the escalating salaries resulting in eventually paying $22M. It would be well below market value for his production.
Wouldnt shock me to see them get a deal done mid to late in the offseason.
Can’t wait for this to get done. The kid is even more impressive than I expected. Great attitude to go along with the ridiculous talent.
Having spent a 40+ year career in negotiating, I would say that, given the absence of time constraints, the inch by inch process is pretty standard, and usually works out provided animosity can be avoided along the way.
This will get done. Makes too much sense for both sides not to work this out.
They need to get this done. This guy is a superstar.
They need to get this done. This team can provide Polanco financial security for the rest of his life.
(Just pointing out that you need two sides to reach an agreement…)