The Pittsburgh Pirates entered the day at 1-1 in their arbitration hearings this off-season, winning the decision against Neil Walker, and losing the decision against Vance Worley. Pedro Alvarez had his decision announced today, with the arbitration panel ruling in favor of the player. Alvarez will receive $5,750,000. The Pirates offered $5,250,000.
The 2015 payroll projection has now been updated with the new figure. The Pirates are now at a projected $90,297,000 for the 2015 season. That number will change slightly when the league minimum figures are released on Opening Day. However, this is the last of the arbitration hearings, so don’t expect any massive changes, unless the Pirates make a move to send someone out or bring someone else in.
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.
sorry, I disagree with the posters on here and agree with some of the sports journalists. This was a mistake taking Alvarez and Walker to arbitration. They should have just paid them rather than have the hard feelings of going to a panel and saying what they don’t like about them. The money they would have saved was miniscule and especially with Walker,they need him long term and should have been bending over backward to pay him. If he leaves in 2016, it will be a huge loss. If Alvarez leaves, he is the next first baseman.Their attitude towards hm mystifies me. A second Baseman who hits .270 with 20 plus HRs in very rare. Plus he is very adequate defensively and is from here. All the fans love him. If they pay anybody, they should pay him to stay long term.
With the file and trial policy the Pirates have adopted I don’t think they mind too much win or lose in the cases this year. I think everyone is bent a bit because Pedro gets a raise for throwing the ball over the first baseman’s head more times than I can count. Pedro is a good lottery ticket at first base. The man hit 36 homers in 2013. Also, Pedro battled and hit against the Cards in their playoff series.
I think his problems are mental. He seems to be afraid to screw up. I believe in order to be successful you need to be confident in your abilities and play to win.
I do love watching the kid hit homeruns. M00NSH0TS. Everyone digs the long ball. 5.75 will look like a bargain if he hits 30
Pedro just turned 28—-this guy is just coming into his prime…..Last 3 seasons he averaged 28Hr’s and 80 RBI’s Last year was awful for him, do u really think he’s simply going to lay down and give up????
IMO, he is not making that much for a starter on a contending team. Having said that I would have traded him last year. He did hit 36 Home runs one year and that is something he will get paid for no matter what he does this year or next year, of course the 186 K’s he had at the same time and the .108BA he had with 2 strikes on him don’t count, not to mention his defense 27 errors. IMO, 36 home runs don’t make up for the rest of his game.
you are correct..he needed to be traded 2 years ago ..or at least last year..by next year he will be traded for 15k of international bonus $
People like you are hysterical.
So YOU say…..
In a winter where Billy Butler gets a guaranteed $30m coming off a *worse* season than Pedro from a team with a *lower* payroll than the Pirates, I cannot fathom how anyone who pays attention to Major League Baseball could think Alvarez is overpaid.
When one is stupid NMR, anything is possible. I just saw another comment pretty much saying that the Pirates should have just paid Walker and Alvarez what they wanted rather than risk any ” hard feelings” !
since the Nutting want 30-40 m profit per yr Kdro does not fit..war paid by the PBC last yr 1.6m per W .so now .. 7 mill to sign..and salaries of 8.2 m and another 5.75 ..mmmm that’s 21 m for 5.5 total war To date..so if he produce a 13 war this yr, they are even..anything else would be a HUGE loss because he will be getting another “RAISE” and he is already TOO EXPENSIVE for the NUTTINGS
Then Nutting turned around and wasted all that money on the new training building in Bradenton. And all along I was told he was spending all that cash at 7 Springs. What IS this world coming too ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTc–4jz0GQ
A bunch of gym equipment with Pirate’s logos just went up on Ebay under the account name F Nelly. You could be right.
As the man said, chicks dig the long ball, so do fans, media and arbitrators, just not people that grade out the whole game.
Then why is power from either side the most sought after ability by professional baseball people ? Why do all evaluators fall all over prospects like Baez, Kris Bryant and Joey Gallo with their 30 to 40 % SO rates oh wise one ?
Hahahaha….
Pedr,pedro,pedro. Never have so many rooted so much for so little. Don’t forget the pedro mantra, ” thisyearthisyearthisyear” as a fan I hope he does well, I just won’t hold my breath.
Don’t hold your breath, chances are very good Pedro will do what he did last year since that is more of the norm for him, since he has been in the Pirate organization he only has 2 years that he hit more than 18 home runs in one year. the long swing is going to be there, if it is not, he might hit for a better average, but he won’t see 36 home runs if he shortens his swing.
He also only has 2 years where he’s had more than 450 abs. For his career he hits a home run per 22 abs. That includes 2011 where he was LOST, and 2014 when he was benched as a defensive liability. So if he gets 550 abs, he’d hit 25 homers. The best response to that is “he won’t get 550 abs as a platoon” to which you’re correct.
But his rate is better against only RH hitters. 1 per 19 abs career. Put down 475 abs (a guess, looking at Ike’s and GI Jones the last couple of years), and he’s at 25 bombs again.
No one is saying he’s perfect. But he’s productive, and an important part of the team.
Where is the Billy Madison clip when you need it…
Pedro and Charlie, so many similarities with fans who don’t know any colors other than black and white.
What in the heck are you talking about? I try very hard to look at both sides of an argument, in this case I can’t see where your comment has any relavence to what I said. Please clarify.
Both players are undoubtedly flawed and frustrating for fans, but both players absolutely are still valuable parts of a team.
You hear the same complaints with both; too inconsistent…if only they would be more consistent…which at that point are usually followed by some denigration about mental toughness and being worthless.
There is middle ground here to take.
I don’t get on Pedro about mental toughness. If anything I said his intelligence is a curse because he thinks too much. But I agree calling him worthless is unfair. Parts of his game are worthless, but he does have value. The talent he has flashed is why people get so frustrated. The fact that he earned 2/3 of his WAR in one season is scary…I am hoping he reaches a point where he just doesn’t care about proving anything anymore and just goes out and lets it rip.
By no means do I believe the Pirates are at totally at fault for the hitter Pedro has become, but I also don’t believe they’ve helped him at all.
Going all the way back to the swing changes they tried to force on him going into 2011 and then even worse going into 2012 before he reverted back to more of his college style, I think they’ve made the same mistake with him as they made with Jose Bautista. IMO, good hitting coaches bring out the areas a hitter excels, not try to make them something they aren’t.
Yes the issue of Pedro’s “Wrap” wasn’t it? The A’s messed with McGwire’s swing years ago and screwed him all up for awhile. I don’t know, maybe Pedro should work with some ex-slugger in the offseason. I know Randy Johnson greatly benefited from talking to Nolan Ryan. Maybe he should hook up with someone like Reggie Jackson who didn’t care how bad he looked or how many times he k’d and just kept ripping it.
Pretty much where I’m at with him. He’s an inherently flawed hitter, and at this point the chances of that changing are so slim that I’d rather him try to maximize what he *is* good at.
Ah, ok. Had me scratching arse and elbow trying to figure that one out.
You certainly aren’t the first to have no idea what I’m trying to say…ask my wife! 😉
……followed by denigration about….oh, lets see. Weight, the hat/ears thing, and now the beard. Oh yeah, I forgot, he doesn’t try either.
that both of them have received more chances than a “lucky cat” LETS see an morton..36-61 life time record w/ 4.50 era and 1.45 whip 746 inn in 7 yrs..and now kdro..he can’t hit..now he can’t throw..and the pbc still hanging on to him…”i think the PBC does not want to ADMIT they made a mistake in taking him…
Actually Will, all of baseball made the mistake with Alvarez. They picked him where he was supposed to be picked. He was rated as the top position player in the draft that year. He just hasn’t panned out for numerous reasons. I wanted Posey.
Yeah dude, nailed it.
Dumbest thing that MLB owners did was when they agreed to the arbitration system as it stands. This system is hit and miss and it is based upon salaries of existing position and doesn’t really take into account how poorly a player performs. I am not picking on Alvarez it’s the system that is poorly designed. The players took control of the system like the UAW took control of GM.
GM”s crappy products ruined GM.
everything in baseball is swing and miss..the game..the draft(maybe 20/1500 a year make it) and the free agent signings (minor or 6 yr FA) a total “crap shoot”.
bring back the reserve clause! /sarcasm
Maybe his arb raise was based on his numbers combined after the 2013 season ? Too difficult for you to comprehend ?
Another guy with no clue that arbitration *depresses* salaries…
They sure do…but not as much as Pedro depresses me. Ok. I’m done with Pedro until April…maybe.
Lord knows Pedro is far from a great player, but you make it out like he’s Andy
LaRoche for God sakes. Let go of that angst Freddy. It’s bad for your heart.
I am happy for him. I kind of felt sorry for him a couple of years ago, when he was playing 140+ games, hitting 20 + HR and occasionally carrying the team on his back, and seeing players on the roster making 10 times or more the salary he was making and not really contributing to the team. Yes, we were all frustrated last year, but hopefully there are some positives this season. I am hoping this positive result for him may start off a season of positives. Just my very uninformed opinion.
I have to disagree with that. Pedro did carry the team for short stints..but he disappeared a lot too. He has never found a way to be consistent. In 2013 he was .213.279.421.700 after the break. He carried nothing down the stretch.
Unbelievable. His salary should have been CUT after the season he had.
This arbitrator — had he or she ever heard of baseball before this hearing?
It was a chick, and she digs the long ball
it was not..the long ball?.he missed them all…it was “the whiffs”
He also deserved a massive pay increase coming into last year….4.25m for a guy that hit 36 hrs is robbery…..just how arbitration/CBA works now.
Super 2 and arbitration…explained every year, and every year folks still don’t get it.
No, everyone gets it. Unlike you, they also get he’s never broken an .800 OPS and will likely be a platoon player this year.
Oh, well then, when will you be accepting the position of arbitrator with your vast knowledge of the system?
Wednesday. Thanks for asking.
I get it. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. The worst thing about Pedro going to arbitration is not his win but the fact I already knew he’d be playing for the Pirates in 2015. Everyone knows me on here. He is literally the only guy I have no tolerance for. He is not a winning ballplayer and he should not be awarded as so. Amazing thing is he played great in 2013 in the playoffs. That had to be the equivalent of stepping in the ocean and finding a baseball-sized pearl.
I don’t like paying taxes, either, but at least I don’t get all indignant every time I look at a paycheck.
and the pbc only pays 38% while the ave is 48% and you don’t get it….Actually
0c4g78x.6 mill per War he was worth 6.1 m last year
Apparently you haven’t, either.
So is he getting a raise for leading the league in all those errors?
Or more than likely for the 54 homeruns he hit the past 2 seasons.
What he said.
This case proves one thing: HRs are valuable. Because he doesn’t do much else. Maybe it was his career .193 avg from the cleanup spot, or his career .087 average after an 0-2 count, or the .172 avg after an 0-1 count, or the fact that after 2 outs in an inning his already poor average drops 30 points, or maybe the career sub .180 after the 7th inning, or the 6-42 with 19 k in extras…good stuff. I’m tired of typing.
Yeah,I am sure the organization offered Alvarez 5.25 mil because they were totally unaware of your statistics. You need to find a real life.
Hopefully he can start better than his career .187.258.363.621 for April.
They really didn’t have a choice. They are kind of stuck with him for now. Being so terrible last year and switching positions his trade value is low and there’s probably a fair amount of belief he is soon to be a DH that can only face righties. Hopefully he can play halfway ok and better options will arise and they can trade him.
I am also tired of typing, numbers apparently don’t mean anything when they apply to certain players.
I think the numbers mean everything when they come to Pedro. He is a terrible situational player. I hope he can give them something better than last year. I am not rooting against him. He is what he is. A guy that got a 6+ mil signing bonus that averages being a 1.1 WAR player for his career.
Clutch stats are one of the most overhyped things in baseball but I have never seen a player that wilts more in tough situations. He makes Adam Dunn look like Reggie Jackson.