BRADENTON, Fla. -- This whole Bryan Reynolds thing sure doesn't seem to be bugging the subject matter himself.
Rolling up Roberto Clemente Memorial Drive into Pirate City on this Monday morning in his Tennessee-plated, titanic truck, he cast a big, broad smile in this direction as I'd been crossing that same street to cover the Pirates' first full-squad workout of spring training. And once inside at his stall, following a brief breakfast, he seemed to be no less ... Reynolds.
"I feel great. Really," he'd tell me.
So, the contract stalemate, the trade request, all that?
"I'm not going to lie: I don't stay out of it. But there really isn't anything to respond to, so I'm focused on baseball and everything that's right here."
Which, I should repeat for maybe the millionth time, is exactly where he wants to be.
Hear me out.
No, there haven't been any new negotiations since Reynolds' representation at CAA willfully publicized their client's trade request after the Pirates' initial approach of six years and $80 million was countered with eight years and $134 million. That was back in December, just before Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings in San Diego, undoubtedly timed to have Ben Cherington squirming out there all week under an unwanted spotlight.
No, there aren't any new negotiations planned, either, as it appears both sides are waiting for the other to blink. Cherington strongly suggested here over the weekend that he'd welcome hearing back from CAA, and Reynolds just as clearly suggested on this day he'd welcome hearing from the Pirates.
And no, my goodness, absolutely nothing should be read into the photo atop this column of Bob Nutting greeting Reynolds before batting practice, snapped on this day by our Alex Stumpf.
Or should it?
See, let me collect into a couple of bullets the general sense I got based on countless conversations on this day, including with the two men above, as well as other observations. In no particular order:
• If Reynolds was here to simply go about his business, serve out his current contract and/or three-year arbitration term, then bolt ... why not just shut off the valve?
The talk he and I had was one of a few he'd have with media here, all of which touched on the topic of the trade request. And since it takes two to talk on any topic, he could've reduced that number to zero by saying, hey, let's talk ball. He isn't doing that. He hasn't done that since he's arrived. Like, at all.
I'm not criticizing here, mind you. Just underscoring that his endgame has always been -- and remains -- staying with the Pirates for the long term. He's actually stated this explicitly since his arrival, and he repeated it on this day.
"I'd love to get it done here," he'd tell me. "I'd love that."
If he lets it drop, even in dialogue like this, he'd theoretically let the Pirates off that figurative hook. So, he's not.
PIRATES
Bryan Reynolds reports for work Monday morning in Bradenton, Fla.
• If the Pirates wanted nothing more than to go through the motions of offering Reynolds a long-term contract, then why approach him at all and risk the ugly backfire that wound up resulting, anyway?
As one team official told me here, when anyone enters into a process like this, all possibilities have to be considered. And this backfire was considered, albeit without the added theatrics of Reynolds' representatives at CAA taking the trade request public. That was a legit surprise, as well as a legit disappointment for what the team fairly saw as a move it didn't have to make at all, since, again, Reynolds' rights are held for three more years regardless.
But they did make that approach.
And no matter what anyone else thought of the offer, it was, in fact, the highest dollar figure put forth in franchise history, in addition to guaranteeing five years beyond the only one Reynolds has now. If something awful were to happen to him -- I know, I know, but this all gets weighed -- all he's certain to collect is his $6.75 million salary for the coming season. That's the No. 1 reason arbitration extensions occur, by the way, because players/agents attempt to guarantee as much of the arbitration-time pay as possible.
So, what was so awful?
And what, since it wasn't so sinister or cynical, really did the Pirates hope to achieve?
Right. They want to keep the player.
• Heck, let's go super-micro on this and swing back to that photo, also captured in my video just above: Why would Nutting head out to that cage, seek out Reynolds, shake his hand and engage in what appeared from about 20 feet away to be an amiable exchange ... if he wanted nothing to do with any of this?
Look, there's no bigger waste of energy in anything I do on this job than to relay anything positive about Nutting. I'm plenty aware of his standing with the fan base, just as I'm plenty aware of how much of it's justified, just as I'm plenty aware that my chance of convincing anyone that he isn't the living embodiment of pure evil ... is pointless beyond words. But when several others here stress that what they want more than anything as a front office is to find a way to keep Reynolds in the fold for the foreseeable future ... I'm inclined to pay attention.
And trust me, that's all I hear. In passionate tones.
So yeah, it's Nutting -- the very top of the structure -- who goes to the cage, rather than Cherington or Travis Williams. And that's not the act of a front office that'd rather bury the topic, either. By walking up as he did, Nutting only gave the story new life.
Where's this all headed?
I'll share the same thought right here with readers that I shared with the principals in this scenario: I've never, in a three-decade career of covering Pittsburgh's teams, seen a scenario in which both sides wanted precisely the same outcome ... only to see it crumble.
Not.
Once.
And my belief, to partially echo one of these team officials, is that if both sides were to meet anew, with an authentic attitude -- the Pirates raising their initial offer in both term and dollars, and Reynolds' representation remaining open to (gasp!) entertaining more than the very first figures they hear -- this'd get done within a week. Maybe within a couple days.
The No. 1 reason I've detected for Reynolds' preference for the Pirates is that he, like a ton of people in this environment, feel with conviction that everything's about to get pretty good here. Not instantly, but as soon as this summer once a handful of legit prospects are in position to come up from Class AAA Indianapolis and foster competition with what's already seen as a markedly improved major-league roster.
As Reynolds himself would tell me, "I really like what I'm seeing. Hitting, pitching, fielding, everything. There's talent. And there's more coming, too."
Similarly, as one of the team officials told me, the city's ebullient reaction to Andrew McCutchen's return, combined with the excitement about the upgrades and the prospects, is creating a 2013-like feel internally, and one they expect will carry over externally ... except that one piece is still kinda sitting off to the side of the puzzle.
This doesn't have to be hard, people. Set aside the wounded egos, the lame gamesmanship and whatever else. Get done what everyone wants to see get done.
TOMORROW: My annual breakout-player survey, in which Reynolds again will cast the decisive vote. (He nailed it with Jack Suwinski last spring, as some might recall.)
