Pittsburgh Pirates: Bryan Reynolds Received Heavy Interest at the Deadline

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a top center fielder in the game. At the trade deadline, there has been reported high interest.

The Pittsburgh Pirates in their full blown rebound have a clear player to build around. Bryan Reynolds is hitting .298/.387/.515 and is even out performing his impressive .314/.377/.503 rookie season. He has a career best 11.6 percent walk rate and 18.6 percent strikeout rate. Reynolds has answered all the questions that arose after his disappointing 2020 season.

As a result, many clubs were interested in Reynolds. He has been worth 5.4 fWAR this season, the same as Carlos Correa, and had four more seasons of club control left. It’s not a surprise teams called having heavy interest. It was reported at the deadline that the Miami Marlins were willing to move some of their high end pitching prospects for the Pirates center fielder.

Well, a few days ago more teams emerged as interested. Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic wrote “In July, the Pirates rebuffed trade overtures about Reynolds from several clubs, including what a source described as “big-time offers” from the Brewers and Braves.” With Lorenzo Cain and Jackie Bradley Jr.s production the Brewers are a natural fit, though are a division rival. The Braves, who made several trades, just lost Ronald Acuña Jr, leaving a hole of that star player.

Ultimately, a deal was not reached. It’s not hard to see why. FanGraphs ranks Milwaukee with the 21st best farm and Atlanta 22nd. While the Pirates and Braves did make a trade, it was more in the lower end receiving Bryse Wilson and Rickey DeVito for Richard Rodriguez. For Reynolds, Milwaukee most likely would’ve had to start with Aaron Ashby and Garrett Mitchell. Ashby has pitched for the Brewers this season and has upside as a left handed starter. Mitchell was their first round pick in 2022. It’s harder to see a fit with Atlanta. Cristian Pache has struggled in the Majors and Shea Langeliers hasn’t hit outside of Double-A. For their package to be “big time” it probably had to be creative.

Overall, the Pirates kept Reynolds but his name is likely to surface again this offseason. He’s the Pirates best player and one of the better players in the sport this season. They’ll likely try to extend him. However, it is note worthy that teams were willing to offer big time trades to obtain him this deadline.