The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to make contract decisions on core players Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez soon, but they seem willing to keep both.

"Both Neil and Pedro will be eligible for arbitration -- Neil for the second time, he was eligible last year as a Super Two player, Pedro this year for the first time," president Frank Coonelly said.

"They'll both be members of the Pittsburgh Pirates for the next three years, if nothing happens in terms of long-term arrangements. There have been discussions in the past with Neil, and I suspect we'll have those discussions again, and we look forward to keeping them as key members of the organization."