Pittsburgh Pirates Offseason: Payroll Flexibility

The Pittsburgh Pirates offseason started last Sunday, on the second, after the loss to the Cardinals. The month of October and November are very busy for the 30 clubs, as they all plan to map out the offseason, and look to begin the 2017 season.

The Pirates have already made a move this offseason, acquiring Brady Dragmire, a bullpen depth option in the minors. It is a small move, but a move none the less. The actual landscape of what the team will do depends on the teams finances, and the amount of flexibility Neal Huntington will have to work with. Most of that starts with the arbitration eligible players. Some of these players will get non tendered, but a good portion will be tendered, and the team will likely look to avoid arbitration with all of them that will be tendered. But the overall landscape is easiest to digest position by position.

The team has a pretty set roster for 2017, with just a few needs, but they could very easily be relaying too much on inexperienced players, with two of them having large question marks on defense. For the pre arbitration players, a $25,000 increase will be added to them from their 2016 salaries. League minimum in 2016 was $507,500. This could be a little aggressive, but it is going on the Gregory Polanco change from the $500,000 league minimum in 2014 to the $525,000 he was paid in 2015.