Tonight is the deadline for teams to offer contracts to arbitration-eligible players for the 2026 season. 

The Pirates have decisions to make on five arbitration-eligible players in Dennis Santana, Johan Oviedo, Joey Bart, Justin Lawrence and Oneil Cruz. Any player who isn’t tendered a contract becomes a free agent. Jack Suwinski and Yohan Ramirez agreed to one-year contracts to avoid arbitration on Thursday and Colin Holderman and Dauri Moreta were designated for assignment on Tuesday.

Here is what each eligible player is projected to earn via arbitration, according to MLB Trade Rumors: 

• Santana: $3.4 million
• Oviedo: $2 million
• Bart: $2.7 million
• Lawrence: $1.2 million
• Cruz: $3.6 million

I personally thought Suwinski and Ramirez were the top non-tender candidates, but of these five players, Bart seems like the most likely to fit into that group given the fact that there was more to be desired from his offensive performance this past season. He played in 13 more games and benefitted from 32 more at-bats than he did when he hit .265 with a career-best 13 home runs in 2024. This year, he struck out more, was limited to a .249 average and .695 OPS, and hit just four home runs, two of which came in the final month of the season. 

Bart’s case for a 2026 contract is strengthened, though, by the fact that the Pirates are rather weak at catcher, aside from Henry Davis’ defensive contributions at the position. If they don’t see enough in the free-agent or trade markets to acquire a suitable catcher to compete with Davis for a starting job, they could consider bringing Bart back, even if it is for less than the $2.7 million he’s projected to earn. 

As for the others, I imagine Cruz is a lock to be tendered a contract, despite the fact that he struggled mightily this past season. And there doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with the figures projected for Santana, Oviedo and Lawrence, three pitchers who were fairly solid in their own rights, despite injuries the latter two dealt with.

The Pirates’ 40-man roster is currently full after Tuesday’s moves that saw five players get DFA’d or released, and six players have their contracts selected in an effort to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. But it’s possible that at least one spot opens up ahead of this particular deadline.