Report: Pirates Turned Down Big Offers for Bryan Reynolds at Trade Deadline

According to Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic, the Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves made strong pushes to acquire All-Star centerfielder Bryan Reynolds from the Pirates during July’s trade deadline. They join the Miami Marlins, Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians as the other reported teams who had least discussed Reynolds with general manager Ben Cherington.

Although it is not known who the exact players were in said offers, the names being discussed could not entice the Bucs to part with the 26-year-old. It’s interesting that the National League Central-rivals in Milwaukee were making a strong effort to acquire Reynolds from the Pirates. Instead, the Brewers’ trade deadline ended with the acquisitions of Eduardo Escobar and Daniel Norris. The Braves managed to acquire three different outfielders instead of Reynolds in Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler.

The Pirates continued the fire sale as Cherington and the rest of the Pirates’ front office are in a rebuilding phase. Though they held onto Reynolds, the Pirates traded Adam Frazier, Tyler Anderson, Clay Holmes, Richard Rodriguez and Austin Davis from their Major League roster.

Keeping Reynolds despite all the trades the Pirates have made dating back to when Cherington took over could be telling of their future plans. Reynolds would no doubt bring back a bigger haul than any of the Pirates other trade pieces in the Cherington-era to date. While there again will be interest in him in the offseason, the possibility of extending Reynolds is certainly on the table as Reynolds is set for his first year of arbitration eligibility. Cherington has hinted that their are players on the current roster that they intend to build around when the team is set to compete again, and Reynolds definitely fits the bill.

It was reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that the Pirates had discussed an extension with Reynolds as far back as prior to the 2020 season. Reynolds himself has expressed a desire to remain in the black and gold.

Bryan Reynolds making no bones about his future: "I want to be here. I want to be a Pirate. I like Pittsburgh."

— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) July 12, 2021

Reynolds is in the midst of an excellent season manning center field for Pittsburgh. He’s currently batting .293 with an .887 OPS, 24 home runs and 88 runs driven in. Reynolds started for the National League All-Star team at Coors Field in July. Acquired from the Giants in the Andrew McCutchen trade, Reynolds is now in his third season with the Pirates, and owns a career slash-line of .285/.364/.482 in 342 games in a Pirates’ uniform. He is currently under team control through the 2025 season.