The Pittsburgh Pirates have some intriguing players on both sides of the ball who eventually need to be paid, even if it didn't seem like it a few years ago. One of those guys is Oneil Cruz, a 27-year-old outfielder who fills up metrics.
He has a ridiculous arm, elite speed, and can leave the yard with the best of them when he gets ahold of one.
Cruz has been somewhat of a polarizing player throughout much of his six-year career in Pittsburgh, but for the most part, he's been above average.
He's going to hit 20 home runs in three straight seasons, as long as he hits another two, which he should, and while the strikeouts have been a concern, he's still an above-average player and someone Pittsburgh should keep in mind.
There are questions about what the Pirates will eventually do with the Dominican Republic native when it's time to sign him in free agency, as he's set to be a free agent after the 2029 campaign.
However, according to the latest, he'd likely be the first $30 million-per-season player in Pittsburgh history, which raises questions about whether the organization will go in that direction.
“Cruz won’t come cheap, mind you, but the Pirates should make every attempt to lure him with the kind of security that comes with a big contract. And they should do it before he fulfills his vast potential — and yes, I know, there is no guarantee that he will. It’s a bet…
“That would also make Cruz the first $30 million-per-year player in franchise history (Griffin’s deal maxes out at $28.33 million in the final two years), and he’d only be 32 when it expired,” Joe Starkey wrote.
But it's also important to look at other contracts in Major League Baseball. Considering the other deals we see around baseball, it's not really unfair to say that Cruz deserves something like a three-year, $90 million deal.
At the same time, there are a lot of question marks about his game, how it projects, and whether he'll ever reach the top level everyone expected, so Pittsburgh has to consider that.
