PITTSBURGH -- As expected, the Pirates tendered 2018 contracts to all four of their arbitration-eligible players -- Gerrit Cole, George Kontos, Jordy Mercer and Felipe Rivero -- prior to Friday's deadline.
Pittsburgh had until 8 p.m. ET to offer a contract to all of the unsigned players on its 40-man roster, and the annual non-tender deadline yielded no surprises. The Bucs tendered a contract to each of their eligible players, including the four who are eligible for arbitration.
The past two years, the Pirates parted ways with two relatively prominent arbitration-eligible players: Pedro Alvarez in 2015 and Jeff Locke in '16.