5 teams that should trade for Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds

The Pittsburgh Pirates have fallen back into the depths of despair, one that Pirates fans are all too familiar with. From 1993 through 2012, the club never even finished above .500, let alone made the playoffs. They won an NL Wild Card spot in 2013-2015 but never advanced past the NLDS. Since then, the Pirates have had one season with a winning record (2018) and finished in fourth or fifth place in all but one season (2016).

In the last three seasons, they have lost 100, 101, and 41 games (in the 60-game 2020 season, or equivalent to 111 losses in a 162-game season).

Part of the reason why the Pirates have been such a woeful team is their lack of payroll. From 2015 through 2017, their average payroll was $95.27 million. That number was still in the bottom third of the league. But in 2021 and 2022, their payroll has been $100.95 million … combined between the two seasons. That low payroll and a slew of bad draft picks have hampered the franchise, by and large, for 30 years.

Things don’t look to be changing on the payroll front any time soon as the club has not spent a lot this offseason and they have not been able to come to a contract agreement with their All-Star outfielder Bryan Reynolds. As a result, he has requested a trade from the club.

Reynolds, 28, has three years left until free agency and in the last two years, he has averaged 152 games a season with 26 home runs, 76 RBI, 27 doubles, a .283/.368/.492 slash line, an OPS+ of 136, and a combined rWAR of 8.9.

With that kind of production, there will be a lot of teams that will be interested in Reynolds but only a few teams have the prospects to be able to get Reynolds as well as the need for an outfielder.

Here are the five teams that should pursue Bryan Reynolds in a trade right now.

1) San Diego Padres are a good fit for Bryan Reynolds

The San Diego Padres have made a lot of moves in the last calendar year to improve their team. They traded for Juan Soto from the Nationals and closer Josh Hader from the Brewers at the trade deadline last year. This offseason, they signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts, DH Nelson Cruz, reliever/starter Seth Lugo, and starter Michael Wacha.

But outside of Soto, their outfield has some question marks. Right now, Fernando Tatis Jr. is slated to be their center fielder. However, he will be playing a new position after missing the entire 2022 season due to multiple injuries and a positive PED test. He will be suspended for the first few weeks of the season due to that test. In the meantime, their center and right fielders are Trent Grisham and Matt Carpenter.

Grisham won a Gold Glove last year but he hit .184 with a .626 OPS. Carpenter had a great season for the Yankees in a small sample size last season, but the 37-year-old is not really an outfielder. The Padres have two of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects.

2) The Philadelphia Phillies

The reigning National League Champion Philadelphia Phillies have shown that they are willing to spend money for the long term as they signed Trea Turner to an 11-year contract this offseason. Bryce Harper is signed through the 2031 season as well.

Currently, their center fielder is Brandon Marsh. His offense improved once the Phillies traded for him from the Angels. Nonetheless, his offense is a bit of a question mark. The rest of their outfield is a question mark defensively. Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos are good offensively but Castellanos, in particular, should be a DH.

If the Phillies were to acquire Reynolds, Marsh could remain in center field, Reynolds could move to right field (where he is better defensively), Castellanos could be the DH, and Darick Hall could be one of the pieces going to Pittsburgh. The Phillies also have two of MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects.

3) The Cleveland Guardians

If the Cleveland Guardians were to trade for Bryan Reynolds, they have one issue that the Pirates have: they have not shown a willingness to spend money. In the last two seasons combined, they have had a payroll of about $118 million on Opening Day. However, they have spent more in recent years as they had a payroll of about $150 million in 2018. Additionally, they have been able to win (they have one losing season since 2013 and that was an 80-82 season in 2021).

Cleveland has one of the best farm systems in the game as they have six prospects on MLB.com’s Top 100 list. In other words, they could trade for Reynolds and still have a very good farm system. They have an offensive need in center field as Myles Straw hit .221 with a .564 OPS in 2022. However, Straw will be in the second year of a five-year deal (worth $25 million).

Cleveland will also have to see if Óscar González and Steven Kwan can repeat what they did in their rookie seasons. If they can’t, they should be on the phone with Pittsburgh ASAP.

4) The Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays fall into a similar category as Cleveland. For Bryan Reynolds, he would be going to a team that, likely, wouldn’t be signing him long-term, as he would like with the Pirates. They don’t spend money but like Cleveland and unlike Pittsburgh, they are perennial contenders and they could use some offensive help.

In center field, the Rays have José Siri, who had a difficult time adjusting to MLB pitching in his first full season in the majors in 2022. He hit .213 with a .607 OPS. Reynolds would be a big upgrade there.