The Pittsburgh Pirates avoided arbitration with five of their six eligible players, and there were a few surprises among the deals.
When it come to the MLB Arbitration process, the Pittsburgh Pirates a “file and trial” club.
That does not preclude the team from working to avoid the oft-contentious hearings associated with the process. The Pirates went through that process twice with Neil Walker, and the blunt proceedings left an indelible imprint on the club’s relationship with its hometown star.
For the 2017 season, they have succesfully avoided a repeat secnario with five of their six remaining arb-eligible players. Here is a quick summary, including 2017 salary values, 2016 values for comparison, and the industry-accepted projections from MLB Trade Rumors.
[table id=217 /]If we take a hard look at some of these figures, a few surprises emerge.
Hughes Gets a Nice Raise
First, Jared Hughes accepted a one year deal at $2.85 million dollars, a $650,000 raise and about $300,000 or so more than his projected figure.
It is not surprising to see Hughes get a raise, or even something slightly above the projected figure, but the amount of the raise might raise an eyebrow or two. His vaunted ground ball rate dropped to 57.9 percent in 2016, the second-lowest of his career, as was his WHIP (1.42). Hughes also posted a 4.68 FIP while his walks per nine increased from 2.6 to 3.3. These are all hallmarks of a player that the Pittsburgh Pirates might have felt comfortable going to arbitration with.
Perhaps it was his strong finish to the 2016 season that resulted in the Pirates forking over some extra cash. During 2016’s final month, Hughes held opposing hitters to a .220 batting average and .631 OPS while producing a 76.9 groundball rate over 16 appearances.
Mercer Gets an Even Nicer Raise
Of course, if we are talking about raises, we must mention Jordy Mercer‘s $4.32 Million dollar deal.
The figure is not far off from the projected amount, when judged against the rest of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ arbitration deals, the jump in salary is a bit surprising.
Mercer played in 149 games in 2016, tying his career high. He also racked up 35 more plate appearances in 2016. Still, Mercer posted a 1.3 fWAR, 0.7 less than his high water mark of 2.0 in 2014.
Depending on what advanced metrics you believe in, Mercer may have lost a step as a defender in 2016. His UZR (ultimate zone rating) plummeted to -8.4 in 2016. Defensive metrics are far from perfect, and this may not tell the entire tale of Mercer’s season. The fifth-year player committed nine errors in the field – par for the course in recent years.
Offensively, Mercer’s abilities and ceiling are well known at this point. He has high patience – as evidenced by an 8.4 percent walk rate to go along with a fantastic strikeout rate of 14.2 percent – and is a nice bat at the bottom of the order.
All of which underlines the surprise at the Pirates settling with him for $4.32 million.
Nicasio Is Another Word For Bargain
Juan Nicasio‘s salary figure was a surprise.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t.
The odyssey that was Nicasio’s 2016 season is well-documented at this point, but the fact remains that having a swiss army knife reliever with Nicasio’s stuff at just $3.65 million is a bargain. His salary will come in at just about $1 million less than MLBTR’s projections.
Nicasio’s sojourn as a starting pitcher in the beginning of 2016 could have been a factor at the arbitration table, but MLBTR’s projections better reflected the going rate for a reliever of Nicasio’s ilk.
The bargain that the Pittsburgh Pirates have in Nicasio may be further amplified should the right-hander take on more of an Andrew-Miller like role. That is a strong possibility, after all.
Cole Takes….Less?
The biggest surprise among these deals may be Gerrit Cole settling before hearings at all.
But, he did. And he took about $500,000 less to boot. For a Scott Boras client such as Cole, those two facts alone ramp up our surprise factor. Last year, information that Cole was unhappy with his 2016 salary went public, It would have been an easy conclusion to connect the dots and assume that Cole would go to arbitration with the club as a result.
But, that didn’t happen. With Cole, both sides had incentive to avoid the table. Cole’s oft-injured reputation may have preceded him. From the Pittsburgh Pirates’ perspective, going through negotiations with Cole could have provided unnecessary distraction going into what many believe is a pivotal season for the 26 year-old hurler.
While avoiding arbitration with a low figure sometimes portends an extension of some kind. This will likely not be the case for Cole, who will be able to command a substantial salary should he rebound well in 2017.
What About Watson?
Tony Watson did not reach an agreement with the club by today’s 1PM salary figure exchange deadline. That does not mean that the club will no longer negotiate with the left-hander, of course. Though the Pirates are a file and trial club, they may reverse trend and attempt to, at the very elast, gain some certainty with their presumed incumbent closer.
Of all the arbitration eligible players, Watson’s worth in dollars may be the hardest to judge. On one hand, he has been durable, totaling 70+ appearances in each of the last three years without missing any time to injury. Of course, that durability has come with a price on Watson’s effectiveness, even if that price is hard to quantify.
Watson looked shaky at times last season, and had a lackluster finish. In September/October, Watson gave up four home runs in 11 outings, with hitters tallying a .918 OPS on him during that month.
The Pirates and Watson’s camp will likely continue to talk, but the club has to like its chances at “winning” the hearing due to the wear and tear that has occurred over the last several years.
The arbitration process can lend itself to surprise moves from both players and teams, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are no exception
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