Pirates trying to sign third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes to long-term contract extension, per report

Hayes is still five years away from free agency

The Pittsburgh Pirates are trying to lock up one of their young core players. The club has made a long-term extension offer to third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, reports MLB Network's Jon Heyman. This is not the first time Pittsburgh has tried to sign Hayes, though Heyman indicates they are making a more serious push now.

Last August, Hayes confirmed to The Athletic's Rob Biertempfel that the Pirates offered him long-term deals prior to 2020 and 2021. Hayes debuted in Sept. 2020, so Pittsburgh tried to sign him before he even made his MLB debut. Here's what Hayes told Biertempfel about the possibility of signing a multi-year extension with Pittsburgh:

"Oh, yeah, definitely," the third-base prodigy said, triggering sighs of relief all over western Pennsylvania.

"I want to stay and win a championship with the team that drafted me," Hayes said. "But I'm not really … I mean, even last year when I was going through that (contract) stuff, I wasn't really thinking too much about it. I was thankful and humbled that they considered to offer me (an extension) before I had even played a big-league game. That made me want to work even harder. But I'm not really worried about it right now. Just trying to get better every day."

The Pirates have a top ranked farm system and, with top prospect Oneil Cruz having been sent to Triple-A, Hayes is the club's best building block at the MLB level along with outfielder Bryan Reynolds. Reynolds, it should be noted, is already 27. His peak years may not align with the club's next contention window. Hayes just turned 25 and has yet to enter what should be his prime.

With a little more than one year of service time, Hayes will not be eligible for free agency until after the 2026 season. He's not going anywhere anytime soon, but the sooner the Pirates sign him, the bigger the discount. The closer Hayes gets to free agency, the more leverage he has, and the more likely it is he prices himself right out of Pittsburgh's future.

Here are a few position players who signed long-term extensions when they were at the same service time level as Hayes is right now:

• Ozzie Albies, Braves: 6 years, $34.425 million with two club options
• Stephen Piscotty, Cardinals: 6 years, $33.5 million with one club option
• Christian Yelich, Marlins: 7 years, $49.57 million with one club option

The Albies contract is one of the most team friendly contracts in baseball and I'm certain the Pirates would be willing to sign Hayes to that deal, no questions asked. The Yelich deal also proved to be team friendly. That was the case even before his huge breakout and MVP season. The Piscotty contract is a reminder these early career extensions don't always work out.

The largest contract in Pirates history is the six-year, $60 million contract they gave catcher Jason Kendall way back in Nov. 2000. Considering inflation (Yelich signed his deal in March 2015), a seven-year extension for Hayes should guaranteed him more than $60 million, thus making it the richest contract in Pirates history. It's time for that record to fall, don't you think?

Hayes, the son of longtime big leaguer Charlie Hayes, battled wrist trouble last season and is a .280/.340/.432 hitter with 27 doubles and 11 home runs (really 12) in 120 career big league games. He's also a top of the line defensive third baseman with multiple Gold Gloves in his future. Hayes a player worth locking up long-term.