According to various reports, the Pirates have declined to offer a contract to catcher Elias Diaz. They’ve offered contracts to eight of their ten arbitration-eligible players and reached a deal for 2020 with the tenth, infielder Erik Gonzalez.
Diaz was eligible for arbitration for the first time after spending all or parts of five seasons with the Pirates. He had what seemed like a breakout season in 2018, batting 286/339/452. He got off to a late start in 2019 due to an undisclosed illness, then had a dismal season. He batted 241/296/307 and ranked near the bottom of pitch-framing metrics. In 250 games with the Pirates he put up a 250/301/355 batting line and threw out 28% of base stealers. Jacob Stallings is now the only catcher on the 40-man roster.
The eight remaining players who are eligible for arbitration, with their projections from MLBTR, are:
Keone Kela: $3.4M
Michael Feliz: $1.2M
Jameson Taillon: $2.3M
Chad Kuhl: $1.4M
Adam Frazier: $3.2M
Joe Musgrove: $3.4M
Josh Bell: $5.9M
Trevor Williams: $3M
