Pirates asking price for Bryan Reynolds is enormous: Can any team meet it?

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds requested a trade early in December, and the Pirates are making it nearly impossible for any team to get him.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have been struggling for quite some time, and they’re holding on tight to the players that give them hope of doing well in the future. Bryan Reynolds is one of the most talented players in Pittsburgh, so when he requested a trade earlier this month, it certainly came as a disappointment to the Pirates.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required), the Pirates are willing to entertain trading him, but the price tag is expected to be ‘exceedingly high’ and similar to Juan Soto’s during the 2022 regular season.

Soto was nearly an impossible trade, but the San Diego Padres managed to create a package the Washington Nationals found fit. However, many struggled to create a package worthy and the Nationals turned down several offers.

Under these circumstances, it’s highly unlikely that any team will meet Pittsburgh’s asking price.

Bryan Reynolds will likely stay with the Pirates

Reynolds is a good player, and while he’d be a great asset to most teams, his asking price is nearly impossible to meet.

If a team can meet it, there may be some hesitancy given his inconsistency. He began his career in 2019 and had a great season, slashing .314/.377/.503 for an OPS of .880. In the shortened 2020 season, he had a complete downfall, slashing .189/.275/.357 for an OPS of .632.

He went on to have the best season at the plate of his career in 2021 (.302/.390/.522 for an OPS of .912), only to have another significant decrease in performance this season hitting .262/.345/.461 for an OPS of .806. While his results this season weren’t bad, they were far below what he’s put out before.

His performance has remained strong, but it’s still been a bit inconsistent too. The most drastic difference was between 2020 and 2021, where his wFB in 2020 was 0.6 and in 2021 was 26.2. It went down to 18.2 this past season, which is a significant decrease but far from a bad result.

It’s truly difficult to predict how he’ll do next season considering the inconsistency by season. If a team is to invest so much into a player, they’d want to make sure he’d be worth what they’re giving up.

Reynolds has proven he’s capable of great things, but he hasn’t proven that he’s capable of producing such great things each season. There’s a bit of risk involved in him, and it’s unlikely that any team will create a package worth what the Pirates are asking.