The Pittsburgh Pirates should not trade Bryan Reynolds if they are serious about winning. Pittsburgh has gone a modest 26-25 under new manager Don Kelly after firing Derek Shelton. Reynolds is under contract for the next few years and is one of the more affordable big bats at his position. The only reason Pittsburgh should deal Reynolds is if they earnestly believe he does not match up with their competitive window, which would be damning in its own right. Reynolds is having a down year – his WAR is -0.6, which is on pace for a career low – but he's an All-Star caliber player at his best. However, that makes Reynolds' no-trade list all the more surprising.
If Ben Cherington were to take the loss and trade one of the richest contracts in Pirates history – which isn't saying much, by the way – then one would expect Reynolds to want to play for a winner. Reynolds has spent his entire career with the Pirates and hasn't made the postseason once. Yet, a look at his no-trade list would surprise you, just as it did myself and most of Pittsburgh.
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Bryan Reynolds no-trade list makes no sense
Per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Reynolds would not approve a trade to the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, Padres, Blue Jays or Giants. I'm sensing a theme here, and outside of Toronto, it appears Reynolds wants to stay far away from the east and west coast. I can't say I understand that logic – perhaps Reynolds wants to live like Morgan Wallen and spend more time in God's country – but he has made his intentions pretty damn clear. That being said, all of those teams are hyper-competitive. While the Yankees and Mets are down as of this writing, both teams are expected to compete for the World Series year-in and year-out.
The same can be said about the Dodgers, Giants and Padres, all of whom reside in the NL West and feature ownership groups willing to spend whatever necessary to win on a yearly basis – so essentially the opposite of Bob Nutting.
Pirates just got another reason not to trade Bryan Reynolds
The Blue Jays recently overtook the Yankees in the AL East, and suddenly hold a three-game lead in the division. Toronto signed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a monstrous extension before this season. The Jays aren't going anywhere, and are always on the hunt for top-tier free agent talent.
What I'm getting at here is that Reynolds doesn't appear to want to leave Pittsburgh, or at least not for the teams one would typically leave the Pirates to join. This leaves Ben Cherington with limited options, which could be a blessing in disguise for Pirates fans that like watching Reynolds play for their team, rather than a big-market spender.