Pirates threatened to cut Gerrit Cole’s salary to leverage deal

(AP) The Pittsburgh Pirates are often criticized for their unwillingness to spend money. Their thriftiness, if you will, has really come in to focus the last two or three years as they’ve developed into a contender, but have ultimately fallen short, including twice in the wild-card game.

Many wonder what could have been had they added one or two players who may have potentially pushed them over the top, but their reluctance to spend money always leads them into a cheaper and less effective direction.

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That’s the reputation they’ve earned, and it won’t be helped at all by some interesting news that broke Saturday night surronding Gerrit Cole.

According to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the Pirates actually leveraged Cole into accepting a deal for the same money he earned last season by threatening to cut his salary to the league minimum.

On Saturday, Cole grudgingly signed a deal for $541,000 in base salary. That’s the same amount he made last year — $531,000 in base pay plus a $10,000 bonus for making the All-Star team.

According to Cole, the team’s initial offer last week was for $538,000 – which was less than his total pay last year. The team refused to go higher than $541,000.

“They even threatened a salary reduction to the league minimum if I did not agree,” Cole said.

The major league minimum salary for 2016 is $507,500.

Just so we’re clear, this is Gerrit Cole we’re talking about. The same Gerrit Cole who has served as the team’s ace starter each of the last two seasons. The same pitcher they turned to in last season’s wild-card game, albeit unsuccessfully. And the man who finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting.

He’s really good at his job. He’s underpaid as it is, at least compared to many of his peers around MLB. And he sure as heck doesn’t deserve to be jerked around after being the best pitcher in the National League last season not named Jake Arrieta, Zack Greinke or Clayton Kershaw.

“When you perform at a level that draws the praise of management, teammates, coaches and fans, you expect appropriate compensation,” Cole said. “I understand the business of this game, but it is hard to accept that a year of performance success does not warrant an increase in pay.”

By rule though, the Pirates did nothing wrong here. As a “zero-to-three” player, which means a player with less than three years’ service time in the majors, Cole was forced to accept whatever contract the Pirates extended to him. If a player refuses to sign it under those guidelines, the contract can be imposed at a lower rate, which is what the Pirates were dangling.

The Pirates were well within the rules, but that’s about as cheap a tactic as you can possibly imagine. Cole knew he wasn’t going to earn what he’s worth this season. He knows his first huge payday is still two years away, when he’s finally arbitration eligible, but the Pirates owed him more than this. They owed him something honest, or at least a token of appreciation.

[Elsewhere: Twins welcome Rod Carew back to camp with stirring tribute]

Neither came, but the story doesn’t end there. Here’s the other twist.

On Saturday, Cole’s teammates elected him their representative to the players’ union. Cole replaced Neil Walker, who was traded to the New York Mets in December.

Cole said he does not want his displeasure over his contract situation to become a distraction as the Pirates ramp up their spring training.

“I don’t want anyone in this locker room to question the virtue of our organization,” Cole said.

Well, it’s probably too late for that. Cole obviously has the respect of his teammates, so they’ll file away what’s going on. And even if it’s not something that festers in the clubhouse, it’s something fans will be talking about for a good while. And it’s something Cole will no doubt remember down the road, when it’s time to exchange arbitration salaries and consider free agency.

Then again, most are already under the assumption that the Pirates would not entertain a long-term, big money deal for Cole anyway. Cole likely knew that much too, but just in case there were any doubts, the Pirates erased them on Saturday.

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