Pirates sign Josh Harrison to long-term deal

The Pirates announced today that they have signed Josh Harrison to a 4-year contract which includes club options for 2019 and 2020. It is being reported by various sources that the deal is worth $27.3 million. The "four years" means the team has reworked Harrison's contract for 2015. He was scheduled to make $2.8 million in his first year of arbitration eligibility. Harrison was eligible for free agency starting in 2018, so they bought out one of those years with the option on two more.

This comes as a bit of a surprise. Obviously your view of the deal is going to depend on whether you think 2014 Josh Harrison was the real deal or he had a great, but fluky, season that he's unlikely to repeat. On the list of players I would have expected the Pirates to extend Harrison was ... well, he wasn't on it. If Harrison is able to repeat 2014, the Pirates will have gotten a real bargain. If not, and he reverts to a super-utility role, they'll be slightly overpaying for a backup.

EDIT: Bill Brink reports the terms of the deal are as follows:

$1 million signing bonus
2015: $2.8 million
2016: $5 million
2017: $7.5 million
2018: $10 million
2019: $10.5 million option with $1 million buyout
2020: $11.5 million with $500,000 buyout

Harrison can also receive incentives up to $1 million in both 2019 and 2020 based on MVP balloting.