Hayes’ new contract is low-risk move for Pirates
Hayes, 25, has basically pledged the prime of his career and then some to the Pirates at the bargain rate of $8.75 million per season for eight years. No fewer than 126 players made more than that last season, according to spotrac.com.
The extension reportedly is for eight years and $70 million. Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado will earn half that total this season alone. White Sox third baseman Yoan Moncada, who hit .263 with 14 home runs last season, will make nearly twice as much as Hayes this year and work his way toward a $25 million salary by the time his five-year, $70 million deal expires.
I didn’t see this coming, not after Hayes had rejected previous Pirates overtures. I saw him as a guy who would bet on himself and play hardball while the Pirates played lowball. But, hey, when somebody puts $70 million guaranteed on the table in these uncertain times, it has to be awfully enticing. The man now has lifetime security.
If the Pirates exercise a ninth-year option, Hayes will be 33 by the time he reaches free agency. That is ancient by baseball standards.
As for the Pirates, what is there not to like? This is a low-risk move. They were lucky Hayes agreed to it. Sure, it’s the “biggest contract in franchise history,” as all the headlines screamed, but considering the franchise in question, that’s kind of like being the best-dressed man at a sportswriters convention. And it is not the Pirates’ alltime biggest contract in terms of annual salary.
What an embarrassment that Jason Kendall’s sixyear, $60 million deal, signed Nov. 18, 2000, remained the Pirates’ largest total-money contract for more than 21 years.
Even if Hayes bombs or gets injured — he had a scare in the opener that turned out to be a forearm spasm — the Pirates will be OK. Forbes has the franchise price pegged at $1.32 billion, and it opened the season with the lowest payroll in baseball. Contrary to popular belief, it can afford to make some financial mistakes. Every team does — but I don’t think this will be one of them.
Hayes already is an elite defender. If he is merely an average hitter, the Pirates will come out ahead. If he fulfills his power potential and looks more like the hitter we saw two years ago, he’ll be a McCutchen-like steal (the Pirates bought McCutchen’s prime for six years and $51 million, or about $100 million less than what he was worth).
Speaking of which, it’s probably past time we do away with the ridiculous and oft-repeated notion that the Pirates “never sign their good young players.” There are plenty of legitimate reasons to rip this franchise and its owner. Why propagate myths?
McCutchen, Starling Marte, Gregory Polanco, Pedro Alvarez and Hayes were among the most talented position players to come through the Pirates system since 2000, and the team signed all but Alvarez to a second deal that bought out free agent years and gave the club control of the player into his 30s. Alvarez, of course, became unsignable and untradable when his career mysteriously collapsed.
Marte-McCutchen-Polanco was supposed to be the “dream outfield” for many years. It just never panned out, partly on account of injuries and Marte’s suspension but mostly because Polanco busted and McCutchen began to fade.
Gerrit Cole was the only young star in recent memory who was jettisoned for financial reasons (unless you count Josh Bell), and even he was struggling at the time. Nobody knew Cole would go from a decent strikeout pitcher — ranked 25th in the majors in strikeout rate his last season here — to a historically dominant one.
The problem hasn’t been retaining young talent but producing it. Maybe that is about to change. The Pirates supposedly have plenty of good prospects coming after Hayes.
And thanks to him, they should have some extra cash to pay them.