Great news for Pirates fans this morning!

Source: Nova deal with #Pirates expected to be in three-year, $26 million range. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 22, 2016

Beautiful. Nova was great since coming to Pittsburgh from the Yankees at the trade deadline. The Pirates missed out on resigning J.A. Happ after he came to the Bucs in 2015 at the deadline and went on to have a big year with Toronto in 2016.

Many thought Nova might get a contract in the range of 4 years, $50-$60 million, and even up to 5 years, $75 million.

3 years, $26 million for Pittsburgh is an absolute steal of a price. $8.67 million a year (if all years are equal) puts the Pirates back at a little over $100 million in payroll for 2017. But they might not be done, and they shouldn’t be.

Source: #Pirates still trying to acquire #WhiteSox’s Quintana even after Nova deal. That pursuit was first reported by @Buster_ESPN. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 22, 2016

Yesterday there were reports that the Pirates were trying hard to make a trade for Jose Quintana. This move shouldn’t stop them.

Make it happen. The core is there, the rotation just got better, and you have the pieces to pull the trade off. Cole – Quintana – Taillon – Nova – Kuhl. That’ll compete with anyone right there.

I wrote yesterday that Meadows and Bell should be untouchable, but if it takes one of them to make it happen, I’d still be fine with it. If it’s Bell, David Freese can play first base. If it is Meadows, you still have a guy named Andrew McCutchen.

I’ll take 4 years of a guy who has thrown 200 innings annually since 2013 at 28 years old than a 22-23 year old kid with 6 years of control, a high ceiling, but struggles to find the strike zone.

This guy is a proven stud. A left-handed arm that plays beautifully at PNC Park and someone you could argue to be the team ace. Win now. Compete with the Cubs. The future won’t matter if it means annual Wild Card loses.