Will Pittsburgh Pirates non-tender Jordy Mercer?




One can’t help but wonder if Jordy Mercer’s run with the Pittsburgh Pirates might end Friday night when the deadline arrives for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players.

Mercer figures to have a salary of approximately $6.5 million in 2018 if he goes through the arbitration process for the third and final time. On the surface, that price does not seem unreasonable for a shortstop who hit .255/.326/.406 with 14 home runs in 502 at-bats with 1.4 bWAR.

However, it is fair to wonder if the Pirates would be willing to pay that much money to Mercer when they already have 10 players under contract for 2018 for a total of just over $75 million. That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for a team that finished last season with a $102-million payroll and figures to pay around $7.5 million to right-hander Gerrit Cole and $3 million to closer Felipe Rivero in arbitration.

Furthermore, it is hard to imagine the penny-pinching Pirates opening next season with a higher payroll following a year in which attendance fell by nearly 20 percent.

While Mercer has been mainstay for the Pirates since 2013 and a steady clubhouse presence, the bottom line is that he is a below average player. His OPS+ has been 94 or less in each of the last four seasons and he has a combined -10 defensive runs saved over the last two years

Yet the Pirates are in a situation where they will almost have to tender Mercer.

Though they will have shortstop prospects next season at Class AAA Indianapolis in Kevin Newman and at Class AA Altoona in Cole Tucker, neither will be ready for the big leagues at the start of 2018. It would also be asking too much of second baseman Josh Harrison or utility players Sean Rodriguez or Adam Frazier to play shortstop on a regular basis.

Jung Ho Kang could be a possibility but who knows if he will ever get a work visa to return to the United States from his native South Korea. He didn’t this year and sat out the entire season.

The free agent market doesn’t offer many tantalizing bargains unless the Pirates think Erick Aybar, Stephen Drew or J.J. Hardy still has something left.


The Pirates do need to shed salary, though. Thus, it wouldn’t be a total shock to see Mercer sent packing.

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