GM Cherington discusses long-term extensions

BRADENTON, Fla. -- It’s long-term extension season around the Majors. The Rays have reportedly opened contract negotiations with former Pirates Austin Meadows and Tyler Glasnow. The Brewers extended Freddy Peralta and signed Christian Yelich to a nine-year mega-deal. The White Sox locked up young star Yoán Moncada and reliever Aaron Bummer.

Will the Pirates get involved?

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman reported last week that Pittsburgh is “going to explore” multiyear contracts with its young players, and industry sources confirmed that the Pirates are open to such deals under new general manager Ben Cherington. MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reported on Tuesday that the Pirates have approached starter Joe Musgrove, left fielder Bryan Reynolds, shortstop Kevin Newman and, interestingly, third-base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes about signing extensions.

Signing Hayes to an extension might push the Pirates to place their top-ranked position-player prospect on their Opening Day roster, a show of good faith not only for the future but the current team as well. Hayes is widely regarded as perhaps the best defensive prospect in baseball, and he’s put together another strong Spring Training showing at the plate that might bode well for his future.

Cherington pointed out on Monday afternoon that being open to such talks doesn’t mean anything is imminent, though he noted that this is typically when long-term deals are hammered out. The Pirates extended Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte during Spring Training, for instance, and negotiated with Gregory Polanco and Josh Harrison during the spring as well.

The Pirates don’t have any players signed to a guaranteed contract after the 2021 season, although Polanco does have club options through ’23.

“I would say that, in any case with any player, from my perspective, we ought to be sharing information. There are times to share information. There’s times to share information related to [contracts],” Cherington said. “So my general response would be, ‘Hey, we’re always interested in sharing information and would want to share information so players are informed as they can be.’ There’s nothing more to it than that.

“We do have players here who we believe do really have a chance to be part of a really good team in Pittsburgh, and we’re excited about that.”

Around the horn
• Starter Trevor Williams gave up two hits and two walks while striking out two over three scoreless innings in the Pirates’ 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Monday at LECOM Park. Williams needed 63 pitches to get through the outing, so he pitched another simulated inning in the bullpen after leaving the game.

With his fastball feeling good, Williams said his focus was executing his offspeed pitches. That may have led to longer counts and less efficient frames, but results aren’t the be-all, end-all in Spring Training.

“I think I was trying to [use] too much of a mix today, just because we were focused on getting my offspeed over for strikes,” Williams said. “It took away sometimes from my heater. But it’s still Spring Training. We’re still trying to figure that stuff out, and game speed and game reps are the place to do it.”

• The Pirates provided a potential preview of their Opening Day batting order on Monday in at least the top five spots: shortstop Kevin Newman, left fielder Bryan Reynolds, second baseman Adam Frazier, first baseman Josh Bell and right fielder Gregory Polanco.

• Kevin Kramer and Jason Martin were tagged out at the plate on the same play in the seventh inning, when Oneil Cruz hit what would have been a homer on most days -- the wind knocked it down at the wall -- and Kramer slipped as he was nearing home. Martin stated plainly that they both would have scored if Kramer hadn’t lost his footing.

“First of all, Cruz hit a 2 iron. I don’t know how that ball didn’t get out of the ballpark. I thought it was going to knock the batter’s eye down,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Martin made a really good read on it and runs really well and just caught him. Once Kevin slipped, we were in a situation where two guys were right on top of each other because of how good a read Martin made.”

• Right-handers Chris Archer, Michael Feliz and Richard Rodriguez are scheduled to pitch in a simulated game on Wednesday, the Pirates’ off-day. Lining up Archer to pitch on Wednesday is notable because, if he remains on an every-fifth-day schedule after that, it’ll be his turn to pitch on March 26 -- Opening Day at Tropicana Field.

The Pirates have shied away from confirming anything about their Opening Day roster to this point, acknowledging that even a minor injury -- like the neck stiffness Archer dealt with earlier in camp -- could alter their plans.

• Right-hander Hector Noesi pitched four innings in a simulated game on Monday morning. Chad Kuhl, who is being built up to start at a deliberate pace, will throw a two-inning sim game on Tuesday.

Up next
Veteran left-hander Derek Holland, looking to solidify a spot in the Opening Day rotation, will start for the Pirates as they make the long drive to Lakeland, Fla., where they’ll face the Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium at 1:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Holland limited the Rays to one run on one hit over four innings in his last start. Also scheduled to pitch for the Pirates are relievers Dovydas Neverauskas, Chris Stratton and Robbie Erlin. The game will air live on MLB.TV, MLB Network and Gameday Audio.