Apr 8, 2015 By John Perrotto for The 2 min read

The Pirates took a leap of faith Wednesday by signing third baseman Josh Harrison to a long-term contract.

It was just a year ago that Harrison was the 25th man on the 25-man roster. Harrison was seemingly one of just two people in baseball — Milwaukee Brewers coach John “T-Bone” Shelby, his maternal uncle, being the other — who felt he could play every day in the major leagues.

However, Harrison went on to have a fantastic 2014 as he finished second in the National League in hitting with a .315 batting average, while belting 13 home runs and stealing 18 bases in 143 games.

Thanks to Pedro Alvarez’s throwing yips, Harrison became the starting third baseman and remains in that spot this season, playing a position that represents one of the few points of weakness in the Pirates’ bountiful farm system.

The Pirates were impressed enough by what Harrison did last season and in spring training that they signed him Wednesday to a contract worth a guaranteed $27.3 million over four years through 2019 and could be worth up to $50.3 million over six years if team option years are exercised for 2020-21.

While Harrison went 2-for-4 in Monday’s opening day loss to the Reds in Cincinnati — the ultimate small sample size — it is still hard to know for sure whether he is going to be a star player, an average regular or a one-year wonder.

Yet it is instructive to understand that the Pirates rely heavily on advanced statistics in their decision-making process and two of the more notable projection systems both feel Harrison will continue to be a good player this season.

Fangraphs’ ZiPS system projects him to have a .284 batting average with 10 homers and 16 steals, while Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA pegs him to hit .281 with 11 homers and 22 steals.

While owner Bob Nutting has loosened his grip on the checkbook following back-to-back postseason appearances, general manager Neal Huntington still doesn’t have permission to spend recklessly.

Huntington has to be sure he is going to be right if he is going to spend $27 million, which makes it clear the Pirates believe Harrison is a lot more than a utility player.