'I don't want to get traded': With Pirates expected to sell, Bryan Reynolds wants to stay

As the MLB trade deadline approaches, Bryan Reynolds is holding out hope that the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t planning a fire sale.

The two-time All-Star outfielder is in the third year of an eight-year, $106.75 million contract with a limited no-trade clause that prevents deals with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Yankees, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays.

Reynolds reiterated that his preference is to stay in Pittsburgh, where his family owns a home and his children attend pre-school.

“Obviously, I don’t want to get traded,” Reynolds told TribLive. “I’ve got five more years. I wouldn’t have signed here if I wanted to get traded two years later. Hopefully, it doesn’t come down to that. It’s why I have that (no-trade clause), right?”

But the Pirates are headed for their seventh consecutive losing season, so a shakeup appears imminent. They had MLB’s worst record in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, suffered successive 100-loss seasons in 2021-22 and followed that with back-to-back 76-win campaigns.

“It sucks. That’s just how it’s been here the last few years, right?” Reynolds said. “When I signed my contract, I was hoping that whole (rebuild) thing was over and we’d be moving into winning. But we’ve had some bad stretches, and now we’re where we are.”

Instead, the Pirates (44-62) are in last place in the National League Central, 18 1/2 games out of first place and 13 back in wild-card standings. That means they are going to be sellers at Thursday’s 6 p.m. deadline, although Reynolds isn’t likely to be traded.

The Pirates would be selling low on Reynolds, given his .231/.288/.373 slash line through 99 games. His batting average has dropped by 41 points, his on-base percentage by 54 points and his slugging by 70 since last season, while his strikeout rate has increased from 25% to 29.6%.

Despite Reynolds’ struggles, Pirates manager Don Kelly endorsed him as a franchise foundational piece before Saturday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks because of his work ethic and example.

“He’s the same guy every day,” Kelly said. “When you talk about the way he plays the game, the way he approaches it, he’s always busting his butt down the line. There may have been one time that he didn’t run hard down to first base, and corrects it himself the next time. You don’t need to manage that. You don’t need to talk to him. He just does it and leads by example. That’s somebody that we’ve seen his ability and the way that he can hit. There’s a lot of value there. He’s a big part of us going forward, I’m excited to have Bryan as part of the Pirates.”

Reynolds is resigned to the likelihood that the Pirates will trade players on expiring deals, which includes left-handed pitchers Caleb Ferguson and Andrew Heaney, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, outfielder Tommy Pham and possibly even designated hitter Andrew McCutchen.

What concerns Reynolds is that All-Star right-hander Mitch Keller and Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes could be dealt, as well as high-leverage reliever Dennis Santana and All-Star closer David Bednar.

Reynolds, Keller and Hayes also are the only holdovers from the 2020 team that marked the beginning of the rebuild under general manager Ben Cherington. All three are locked up to long-term contracts — Hayes is in the third year of an eight-year, $70 million contract while Keller has three years remaining on a five-year, $77 million deal — so they were supposed to be franchise cornerstones.

“It would be a big difference, personally, because I’ve been playing with them for so long,” Reynolds said. “The trade deadline is weird. Obviously, an ideal situation would be everybody stays and we’re winning, but that’s just not where we’re at. Personally, I hope it’s not a full blowup.”