Throughout the offseason the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we discussed Rafael Devers’ future. This week we’re going to do the same with Bryan Reynolds.
On which team will Reynolds start 2023, finish 2023, and start 2024?
Matt Snyder: I’ll say he starts this coming season with the Pirates. Their asking price seems to be incredibly high and the teams looking to deal for him aren’t yet desperate enough to cough up what the Pirates want. Plus, Reynolds doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2025 season, so the Pirates don’t have to be in a huge hurry just yet. I’ll say Reynolds starts off the 2023 season looking more like the 2021 version than 2022 and the Pirates realize the time to strike is this July. I’ll go with the Yankees winning the bidding, so he finishes 2023 with them and starts 2024 there as well.Â
R.J. Anderson: I’ll say that Reynolds starts next season with the Pirates. If the reported asks are anywhere in the neighborhood of what the Pirates desire for him, it’s hard for me to see anyone meeting or coming close enough to warrant a move. After that, things are tricky. I feel like the Pirates will have to lower their ask, and I could see them doing that heading into the deadline. At that point, I’ll predict that he ends up on, say, the Rangers.
Mike Axisa: I’m going to say Dodgers across the board. They’ve been too quiet this offseason, that hole in center field is too big for me to think they’re not going to do something big, and Reynolds is the biggest thing left out there. Yeah, he’s is better defensively in left, but he’s more than adequate in center, and he’s a comfortably above-average hitter with three years of control left. Reynolds fits Los Angeles very well. The Dodgers have a deep farm system with several upper level pitchers to build a package around (Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Gavin Stone, etc.). I think a trade will come together, though maybe not until February, right before spring training opens, similar to the Mookie Betts trade a few years ago.