Pirates Can't Lose Brandon Lowe, Despite Age Being a Factor

As the Pittsburgh Pirates enter Major League Baseball's offseason, set to fully begin on Monday night with free agency beginning at 5 p.m. ET, there are a lot of questions that the Pirates are going to have to answer. 

We can look at a wide list of decisions that the organization is ultimately going to have to make, but there aren't many as pressing as what they want to do with Brandon Lowe. 

Lowe is among the best free agents on the board, with an argument to be made that he's the best offensive player available. If he were a couple of years younger, we're likely looking at a guy who would get $100-plus million with relative ease.

I still don't think it's crazy to say that Lowe could be a $100-plus million player, but a lot of it is going to come down to what this potential lockout does. 

With free agents having about a month before that lockout is expected to start to sign deals, it feels safe to say that a guy like Lowe is looking to get paid handsomely right away. Because of that, there's a chance that he could be a guy who signs relatively early. 

Whether that's with the Pirates or not remains to be seen, but only time will tell what will happen on that front. In regard to whether Lowe is the guy Pittsburgh should sign to a long-term extension despite his age, I have to disagree with what somebody recently wrote suggesting that he wouldn't be a perfect option.

“The choice for Cherington, then, is pretty stark. He can pay the 32-year-old the many millions he will likely command on the open market. Or he can let his best offensive player leave for practically nothing in return.

“Each choice carries potential downsides. Of course, the lineup will be worse if he leaves in the short term. But because Lowe is well on the other side of his 30th birthday, a long-term contract extension carries significant risk of diminishing returns,” Adam Bittner wrote.

I understand the age question with Lowe, and I understand it's also unavoidable. 

At the same time, I feel like this Pirates lineup just wouldn't be anywhere near as good without him in it. For a team that hasn't made the playoffs in the longest stretch of baseball at the moment, I'm not really worried too much about the future, as crazy as that might sound. 

Not that the Pirates should completely disregard their future, but if I sign Lowe to a three-year deal and he helps us make the playoffs in year one but isn't great the next two seasons, I can probably deal with that. 

That's what I'd be considering right now if I were the Pirates, so it's at least something that I'm willing to take a chance on at this point.