Pirates, Keller agree to contract extension
Mitch Keller and the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to terms on a five year deal, per reports
The Pittsburgh Pirates and pitcher Mitch Keller have agreed to terms on a five year, $77 million extension, per multiple reports. Keller, who turns 28 in April, would have been eligible for free agency after the 2025 season.
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Keller was a second round pick of the Pirates on 2014, and spent a number of years in the upper levels of top 100 prospect lists, but struggled to put everything together, culminating in an awful 6.17 ERA in 23 starts in 2021. Since then, however, there’s been marked improvement, as he has put up 4.9 bWAR over the past two years.
There’s been a general sense that Keller is on the rise, and he is someone who had been bandied about as a potential trade target for the Rangers this past offseason. With this deal, however, Keller doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, so we can scratch him off the potential acquisition list.
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Which Texas Rangers Made MLB Network’s Top 100 List?
Who are the best 100 players entering the 2024 season, and how many Texas Rangers are on the list? The answer to both those questions was recently unveiled on the MLB Network. Five members of the defending World Series champs earned spots among the top names entering 2024. American League MVP runner-up Corey Seager earned the highest ranking among Rangers,
appearing at No. 6, after nearly pulling the MVP title away from Shohei Ohtani in the 11th hour. Seager vaulted 27 spots over his ranking last year thanks to a career year that culminated in a World Series title with the Rangers. Injuries have hampered him throughout his career, but even though he played in only 119 games in 2023, he belted a career-high-tying 33 homers and led the AL with 42 doubles while posting a .327/.390/.623 slash line. Seager was very nearly a 7 bWAR player despite missing a quarter of the season; if he can manage to stay healthy, ’24 could be an MVP-caliber season for the 29-year-old after he finished runner-up for the honor last year. – MLB.com
