Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Brandon Lowe says that he is open to an extension with the team after having an excellent season in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates acquired Lowe from the Tampa Bay Rays this past offseason as part of a three-team trade with the Houston Astros, and Lowe has been terrific for Pittsburgh.
He has hit 32 home runs for the Pirates to go along with 5.0 bWAR, while playing 143 games, including 126 starts at second base for Pittsburgh. With those kinds of elite numbers, it’s no wonder that Pirates fans want him to come back.
And Lowe says he’s open to it.
Brandon Lowe Open to Re-Signing With Pittsburgh
Speaking to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Lowe confirmed that he is willing to talk with Pittsburgh about a contract extension.
“I think this team’s got a very bright future and a lot of good players, and there’s a lot of good baseball that’s going to be played in this park for a long time. (If) they want to talk, I’m all ears,” Lowe said.
The second baseman believes that if the Pirates didn’t have as many injuries as they did this season, they could have made a bigger postseason push.
“It stinks that some injuries and some other things kind of hindered the possibility of where we could go. But I still think there’s been a lot of very good things coming out of this year for this team and for the future of this organization,” Lowe said.
That being said, if Lowe ends up only playing one season in the Steel City, he enjoyed his experience.
“We have enjoyed our time here. If it’s a one-year thing, we’ve enjoyed it,” Lowe said.
Pirates Manager Wants Lowe Back
Pirates manager Don Kelly also said that he hopes that Lowe returns to the team next season, as he loves what he brought to the table this year for Pittsburgh.
“I love having Brandon Lowe. (From) what he’s done on the field — not just him and the homers and everything, but how he impacts those around him has been remarkable,” Kelly said.
Lowe is playing out the final year of a six-year, $24 million deal that he signed with Tampa Bay that proved to be a massive steal for both Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh.
This year, Lowe made $11.5 million and far exceeded the value of his deal, so you would think he would want to get a raise on his next contract, though MLB lockout considerations will come into play.
“It’s another CBA, another lockout possibility, and they’re not a whole lot of fun to go through. I don’t know if this is going to be similar (to 2022), if teams are going to hold out because the CBA argument points are different. I’m not really too sure,” Lowe said.
We’ll see what ultimately happens between the Pirates and Lowe, but it does appear that there is mutual interest to get a deal done between the player and team despite an MLB insider recently suggesting that was not the case.
Brandon Lowe Open to Pirates Extension