Pittsburgh Pirates: Projection for 2020-2021 Arbitration Eligible Players

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the largest amount of players who will be heading to arbitration this winter.  Here are the projections for those players.

The word arbitration has become a very controversial term for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans.  The previous General Manager Neal Huntington often would note players who would receive arbitration raises as payroll increasing.  While this is true, no one wanted to hear that the Bucs would not be signing anyone because they had to pay their current players.

Even last offseason, the Bucs had nine players who were arbitration-eligible.  The team ended up working out agreements with all the players.  Having nine players put them in the upper half of the league for the number of players who were arbitration-eligible.

This year, the Pittsburgh Pirates have the most amount of arbitration-eligible players.  Overall, the team will have 19 players receive increases to their salaries for the 2021 season.  This is by far the most in Major League Baseball, with the Marlins having the second most with 13 arbitration-eligible players. So with that being said, the Bucs payroll will naturally increase this upcoming season.  Here are the players and the projections from MLBTR, for more information on how they figured out those three projections click here:

"Josh Bell – $5.1MM / $7.2MM / $5.7MMSteven Brault – $1.5MM / $2.5MM / $1.5MMNick Burdi – $600K / $600K / $600KKyle Crick – $800K / $900K / $800KMichael Feliz – $1.1MM / $1.1MM / $1.1MMAdam Frazier – $3.3MM / $5.2MM / $3.7MMErik Gonzalez – $1.2MM / $1.9MM / $1.2MMChad Kuhl – $1.3MM / $2.2MM / $1.4MMLuke Maile – $900K / $900K / $900KColin Moran – $1.9MM / $3.3MM / $1.9MMJoe Musgrove – $3.2MM / $4.4MM / $3.4MMJose Osuna – $1.1MM / $1.3MM / $1.1MMRichard Rodriguez – $1.1MM / $1.7MM / $1.1MMJacob Stallings – $1.0MM / $1.4MM / $1.0MMChris Stratton – $800K /  $1.2MM / $800KJameson Taillon – $2.3MM / $2.3MM / $2.3MMTrevor Williams – $3.2MM / $4.6MM / $3.5MMJohn Ryan Murphy – $700K / $700K / $600KNick Tropeano – $800K / $900K / $700K"

Typically, MLBTR only puts out one projection, and they are usually pretty darn close with it.  This year, however, presented some unusual circumstances which are why it is harder to project the actual numbers.   Still, the money is relatively close to all the projections.

Overall, this long list of players will keep the Pittsburgh Pirates Front Office busy this offseason.  However, not all those players will be around for much longer. The Bucs will no doubt designate a few of these players for assignment.  Players like Kyle Crick and Michael Feliz have not done enough to prove they deserve spots in this bullpen next year.  John Ryan Murphy is another player who the team could release, although his cheap contract could keep him around.

The team could also move a few of these players via trade.  Names like Josh Bell and Colin Moran have been brought up as potential trade chips.  However, Adam Frazier, Joe Musgrove, and Richard Rodriguez are the more likely candidates.  Another name to watch will be Trevor Williams, who is projected to make around $4 million, but saw his value significantly drop.