Smirfitts Speech

The Pittsburgh Pirates and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes agreed to an eight-year, $70-million contract extension with a club option for a ninth season, sources told FanSided’s Robert Murray.

The deal is the largest in franchise history, surpassing the six-year, $60-million pact former Pirates catcher Jason Kendall inked in 2000, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.

The extension will keep Hayes in Pittsburgh until his age-34 season if the team exercises its option for a ninth year, per Rosenthal.

Ke’Bryan Hayes walks into Pirates clubhouse and gets applause from his teammates. One yells, “Everybody borrow a dollar from Ke’Bryan!”

— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) April 7, 2022

Hayes, now 25, debuted during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign and made a great first impression, hitting .376/.442/.682 with five home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 games.

The former first-round pick struggled to build on that success in his first full campaign as he posted a .689 OPS with six home runs and 38 RBIs across 96 games in 2021.