Gregory Polanco reportedly offered 11-year deal from Pittsburgh Pirates

There was much talk about how money played into the fact that Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco was held in the minor leagues so long.

Of course there was the dreaded Super 2 hanging over his head and there were also reports that the Pirates offered their prized prospect a seven-year deal back in spring training that Polanco naturally declined.

However Polanco didn’t let any of that stuff phase him as all he has done is come up and post a .288/.374/.375 line in 92 major league plate appearances with a  couple of homers and 10 RBI. That line looked insanely better at this time last week before a mini cold stretch for Polanco.

But the Pirates, like all Pirates fans, have seen what Polanco is capable of on the baseball field and have done their best to try and lock up the youngster now, long before he ever hits arbitration or free agency.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, the Pirates have offered Polanco an insanely long deal that would keep him in Pittsburgh for 10 more seasons after this one.

Needless to say the two sides are far apart.

Heyman wrote:

"Pirates outfield wunderkind Gregory Polanco and the team are thought to be at a stalemate in negotiations after offers and counteroffers — including one by the Pirates that could have kept him in Pittsburgh for 10 more years on top of this one, through 2024 – have failed to bridge a significant gap, sources told CBSSports.com.The Pirates are said to have made a couple offers for differing lengths just before the talented Polanco was called up to the big leagues a couple weeks, and one of them included three club options to make it 11 total years and could have kept him in a Pirates uniform through ’24, or until he was past 33. That proposal is believed to have carried the potential to be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $75 million, with a majority of the money coming in the non-guaranteed option years."

That’s a very long deal for someone who has only 80 MLB at bats to his credit, but the Pirates are doing their best to make sure they can get the prodigy locked up well before he becomes too pricy for them to hang onto.

As for Polanco, it makes sense that he doesn’t sign any deal now from the Pirates, especially ones with option years 8-10 years down the road that will likely be a fraction of what he will be worth by then.

I give the Pirates credit for trying to get a deal done, but the odds aren’t very good that they will be successful.