Pirates shopping Melancon, Walker, Alvarez
Associated Press
Pedro Alvarez, right, is greeted by teammates Jordy Mercer, Neil Walker, left, and Gregory Polanco after driving in Andrew McCutchen with the game-winning run in the ninth inning against the San Diego Padres during the 2015 season. The Pirates may be looking to trade some of their higher priced players who are entering the last year of their contract.
Associated Press
The Pirates Mark Melancon celebrates after striking out St. Louis Cardinals鈥� Thomas Pham for the last out, Friday, in Pittsburgh. Melancon got his 29th save of the season as the Pirates won, 5-2.
BOCA RATON, Fla. 鈥� Part of being a contender 鈥� something the Pirates weren鈥檛 for two decades until 2013 鈥� is that players鈥� salaries usually go up commensurate to a team鈥檚 success rate.
That is happening to the Pirates this winter. The bill has come due for three straight trips for the postseason following 20 consecutive losing seasons from 1993-2012.
Closer Mark Melancon and second baseman Neil Walker are expected to see their salaries jump to at least $10 million this season through the arbitration process while first baseman Pedro Alvarez鈥檚 salary is expected to rise to around $8 million.
鈥淲hen your players are successful, they are going to earn more money and that鈥檚 a good thing because you want your players to be successful,鈥� Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said as Major League Baseball鈥檚 general managers meeting continued Wednesday.
However, it will also be challenging to fit all three players into the payroll, which was at $95.9 million at the end of last season 鈥� 24th among the 30 major league teams 鈥� and is not expected to rise significantly in 2016.
Huntington was vague about the Pirates鈥� chances of being able to retain all three players, who are also eligible for free agency at the end of next season. However, executives from other teams say that Melancon, Walker and Alvarez are being made available in trade.
Melancon has the most trade value in the eyes of talent evaluators from other teams. He led the major leagues with 51 saves this year in 53 opportunities and has a sparkling 1.85 ERA over 222 games and three seasons with the Pirates.
鈥淎 lot of teams would love to have him, he鈥檚 one of the best in the game,鈥� said an American League GM, who asked not to be identified for competitive reasons. 鈥淭he Pirates would get a pretty good return on him.鈥�
GMs also feel Walker has value as a switch-hitter with above-average power for a middle infielder.
However, baseball people aren鈥檛 high on Alvarez, who led the Pirates with 27 home runs last season but also topped major league first basemen with 23 errors.
鈥淲hat would you give up for him?鈥� a National League GM asked rhetorically. 鈥淣ot much. He can鈥檛 play defense, he strikes out a lot and he鈥檚 very inconsistent. Other than his power, which is very on and off, he doesn鈥檛 bring much to the table.鈥�