Although Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Monday evening that left-handed closer Felipe Rivero will sign a contract extension with the Pirates, Neal Huntington told reporters a deal is not done yet.
According to Rosenthal, Rivero will sign a four-year contract worth $22 million guaranteed, avoiding a possible arbitration hearing. The contract also includes two club options.
But Huntington — who addressed reporters during a 20-minute news conference at PNC Park Saturday night — said there are still details to be worked out.
"When that becomes available, if it becomes available, we’ll be sure to comment on that, but we still have some X’s and O’s to work through," Huntington said. "As we’ve talked about, it’s part of our process. If it comes together, awesome. If it doesn’t then we’ll have another bad source that one of you guys relied on or somebody else relied on."
Interestingly enough, Rivero was one of the first Pirates to react on social media to news of the McCutchen trade. Twice, in fact:
??♂️
— Felipe Rivero (@Rivero43) January 15, 2018
— Felipe Rivero (@Rivero43) January 15, 2018
Rivero, 26, was beginning his first of four arbitration-eligible seasons and was unable to come to an agreement on a contract with the Pirates prior to Friday's 1 p.m. deadline. According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the club submitted a salary of $2.4 million, but Rivero filed for $2.9 million.
Instead, the new contract will cover all four of those arbitration seasons, as well as two additional years with the club options. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Rivero will receive $2.5 million in 2018, $4 million in 2019, $5.25 in 2020, $7.25 million in 2021 and a $2 million signing bonus.
The potential contract also includes club options for 2022 and 2023 for $10 million with buyouts available in either year. This is a significant bargain for the Pirates, considering the free-agent contracts signed by relievers this offseason.
Rivero emerged as one of the top ninth-inning relievers in Major League Baseball after being named to that role by Clint Hurdle in June. When Daniel Hudson and Tony Watson faltered, Hurdle moved Rivero to the closer role and Juan Nicasio to the eighth inning. It worked wonderfully. Overall, Rivero had 21 saves with a 1.67 ERA and 88 strikeouts to only 20 walks in 2017.
Acquired from the Nationals in the Mark Melancon trade in August 2016, Rivero is now one of the pillars of a franchise that has officially started to rebuild after trading McCutchen and Gerrit Cole.