PITTSBURGH – Bryan Reynolds is sticking with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The veteran outfielder has agreed to an eight-year deal worth $106.75 million, three people with knowledge of the agreement told the Associated Press. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was not official pending a physical.
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The contract is the richest in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates and gives the club another cornerstone to build around as it tries to emerge from four straight last-place finishes in the NL Central.
The 28-year-old was an All-Star in 2021 and is hitting .294 with five home runs and 18 RBIs this season. The team is off to a surprising 16-7 start heading into a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Tuesday night.
The deal comes less than five months after Reynolds requested a trade.
Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington insisted the team was willing to do what it takes to keep Reynolds in the fold, and both sides made progress toward an agreement in recent weeks.
The new deal includes a $2 million signing bonus, a club option for 2031 and a limited six-team no-trade clause.
The soft-spoken switch-hitter arrived in January 2018 as part of the trade that sent 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen to San Francisco.
Five years later, McCutchen is back with the Pirates and Reynolds is now the anchor of a lineup that's helped Pittsburgh get off to its best start since 1992 despite losing young shortstop Oneil Cruz to a fractured left ankle earlier this month.
Pittsburgh believes it is starting to emerge from a bottom-up overhaul. The club signed third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes to an 8-year, $70-million extension in April 2022 and has followed up by locking down Reynolds.
The Reynolds move also gives the team some future stability after recent years of massive roster churn. Cherington has stockpiled a significant number of high-profile prospects since taking over in 2019 and has found in Reynolds and Hayes two youngish building blocks that will give the club an identity as it tries to return to contention for the first time since reaching the playoffs three straight years from 2013-15.
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AP Baseball Writer Ron Blum contributed to this report.
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