The Pittsburgh Pirates are making the noise.
This offseason, they're suggesting themselves to be real buyers.
It's not a position they've been in for a long time, but there's enough smoke surrounding these rumors and comments that there really might be fire.
The Athletic's Jim Bowden is bought in.
Bowden, in a new article, projects the Pirates to shock baseball and sign Cody Bellinger, the free agent from the New York Yankees.
His projection: a six-year deal worth a total of $168 million.
"The deal will shock everyone, because the Pirates would actually be spending money and Bellinger would be willing to go there," Bowden writes "The deal won’t include a no-trade clause, which will make Bellinger a main character in the trade rumor mill for the life of the contract."
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That's actually an intriguing point that Bowden makes: Bellinger would have to be willing to go there.
And it seems like, if Bellinger did really sign with Pittsburgh, it would signal a genuine belief from him that the Pirates aren't going to only add him and will be more committed to raising the level of their team.
Pittsburgh has pitching and really just needs to add bats. Bellinger would be a major addition that would send a message to the rest of the league, for sure.
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