- 1984 - The Pirates drafted pitcher Gil Heredia first in the January draft, but the righty from Pima CC didn’t sign. He went pro three years later, albeit as a ninth-round pick of the Giants, and carved out a 10-year MLB career. Light hitting OF Alex Cole was also selected that year. The best pick was in the secondary phase when the Bucs took OF Jay Buhner, who ended up swatting 310 HR in 15 big league seasons after being traded to the Yankees. They also choose C Tom Prince in the fourth round of the secondary draft, and he hung with the Bucs from 1987-93 as a reserve backstop, later rejoining the club as a minor league manager and big league coach.
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| John Cangelosi 1990 Donruss |
- 1990 - The Pirates had 11 players eligible for arbitration; all 11 filed for February hearings. OF John Cangelosi was the first to give in before judgment day, agreeing to a one-year/$220K deal after bringing home $150K the season prior. Cangelosi told the Post-Gazette that “The offer was fair. I didn’t want to make anybody mad.” The Buccos also re-signed minor leaguer LHP Scott Ruskin, who had a good start to the year and was subsequently flipped to the Expos in August as part of the Zane Smith trade.
- 2003 - RHP Matt Herges agreed to a one-year/$825K deal. The 33-year-old Expo reliever, who the Bucs had recently acquired as a setup man, came to Pittsburgh for pitcher Chris Young. Young went on to some success as a starter before injuries dropped the curtain on his career while Herges was in the fifth year of an 11-season MLB tour of duty. He pitched for six teams from 2003 forward, but Pittsburgh wasn’t one of them; they cut him in March.
- 2005 - RHP Josh Fogg inked a one-year/$2.15M deal with the Bucs to avoid his first year of arbitration. Fogg went 6-11/5.05 during the ensuing campaign and was non-tendered, ending up with Colorado in 2007. Craig Wilson agreed to a one year/$3M contract the next day and also avoided arbitration. He ended up playing only 59 games during the year as a result of hand injuries that landed him on the DL twice.
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| Josh Fogg 2005 Fleer Tradition |
- 2006 - The Bucs signed RHP Kip Wells to a one-year, $4.15M contract, avoiding arbitration. Kip only lasted to the deadline, going 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA before being dealt away to the Texas Rangers for Jesse Chavez. Wells, a former first round draft pick of the White Sox in 1998, pitched for nine teams in 12 seasons with a career slash of 69-103-2/4.78 ERA.
- 2013 - The Pirates signed vets RHP Jeff Karstens, who was non-tendered in arb, to a reported one-year/$2.5M contract as a FA and 1B/OF Brad Hawpe to a minor league deal. Karstens, who had missed two months of 2012 due to injury, never returned to the hill. He underwent rotator cuff/labrum surgery in early June that eventually led to his 2015 retirement. Hawpe was on the comeback trail but was cut in camp, played briefly for the Angels and was done with MLB ball by late July after hitting .185.
- 2014 - The Pirates signed five players to one-year deals (2B Neil Walker, 3B Pedro Alvarez, P Mark Melancon, 1B Gaby Sanchez and P Vin Mazzaro) to avoid arbitration. They had previously reached agreements with arb-eligible P Charlie Morton, OF Travis Snider and C Chris Stewart, and non-tendered 1B Garrett Jones, C Mike McKenry and OF Felix Pie to close out a king-sized 2014 arbitration class.
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| 2015's only contract loser...2015 Elite |
- 2015 - The Pirates had a MLB-high dozen players eligible for arbitration: Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, Mark Melancon, Josh Harrison, Tony Watson, Francisco Cervelli, Jared Hughes, Travis Snider, Antonio Bastardo, Chris Stewart, Vance Worley and Sean Rodriguez, after previously releasing arb-eligible players Ike Davis, Gaby Sanchez, John Axford, Jeanmar Gomez and Chaz Roe. Nine signed one-year deals; Walker, Alvarez, and Worley opted to take the arbitration route. Walker lost his case (asked for $9M; got $8M); Alvarez ($5.75M; was offered $5.25M) and Worley ($2.45M; offered $2M) won their hearings.
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