By Dejan Kovacevic | 12:46 p.m. Sunday
The Pirates have pulled back their contract extension offers for Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez, but the team remains open to discussing the process anew.
Wilson was offered two years and $8 million, Sanchez two years and $10 million, with the understanding that there would be little flexibility on their part. As was reported here last night, Wilson and Sanchez rejected those offers, though Wilson was not emphatic in doing so. Neither agent responded with a counter-offer to the team.
Details to come.
UPDATE 1:34 p.m.: Some stuff Neal Huntington had to say on this topic just now ...
> On a deadline for getting these done or not done: "I think that comes when we trade one or both, which may not happen. We made an offer, and we put a deadline on it, which is something I've done with every offer I've made, whether it's a minor league contract or major league. You can't just leave it out there. We're a little time-sensitive here because of the looming trade deadline. And just because they don't accept doesn't mean they're going to be traded. If we get the right baseball deal, we get the right baseball deal. Typically, in a negotiation, you get a counter-offer. That's how conversations continue. We've not gotten that to this point. We felt pretty strongly that our structure was in place but that we were open to some adjustments off it. Not significant adjustments. Not huge differences in years or dollars. But if there was something that added value to the player, we're open to that. In our minds, they're not even interested in the foundation we've laid."
> On whether the difference could be made up through bonuses: "Something that they feel adds value. Obviously, their response is that they don't feel we're even in the same ballpark, and it's not worth countering. And that's understandable. We've made a quick attempt to sign players for what we feel works for us. If they don't feel it works for them, then they don't accept. We've made offers that we feel will be realistic given this year's free-agent offseason. Four position players last year signed contracts of three or four years, out of 107 contracts. Two percent of total contracts signed for four years. So we don't feel we're that unrealistic in our offers. We understand their perspective. We understand they think they're going to get more this offseason, and they're certainly entitled to that. That's what makes in-season extensions tough, in that you don't have that competing market to compare against."
> On what's next: "If they want to continue dialogue, we're open to it. If not, we understand. We move forward. No harm, no foul."
> On whether the Pirates could simply pick up the 2010 club options on each: "I don't know that that's realistic from a financial standpoint. A year ago, I was an idiot for extending Freddy for $6 million. And now, I'm an idiot for not being willing to give him a heck of a lot more than that. In Jack's case, he has played terrific defense for us, maybe the best of his career. But this is the fourth of five years that he's been a below-average league bat for his position. So, we've got to be realistic in our evaluations. We talk about that all the time. We've got to put deals on the table that make sense for us. If they make sense for the players, we move on. But we can't be held hostage because we don't have enough option. We believe that we have enough talent in the system that, if we have to trade for a shortstop or second baseman, we can do that. We could look for a free agent. Adam Everett signed for $1 million a year ago. There's going to be somebody available. Maybe not to the level of Jack and Freddy. But now we take the dollar difference and reapply that somewhere else, we feel like we can be a better team with two or three players instead of just one."
2:03 p.m.: Other tidbits from Huntington, on other topics ...
> On how long until Lastings Milledge arrives now that he is batting .520 for Indianapolis: "He's an interesting case. We're trying to get to know him, get to learn, get him to trust us, and a lot of things have come quickly. He's made some adjustments with Gregg Ritchie in Lynchburg, and we thought it would take him time to implement those. And he's taken to those quickly. We don't want to over-react and rush him to the big leagues, but he's swung the bat just great, worked very hard and, if he continues, sure, he opens the door a lot quicker than maybe we anticipated."
> On Ian Snell: "It's not really the baggage that's holding him back. Ian has spoken publicly that he doesn't want to come back, and it's tough to bring back a player who doesn't want to be back. There may come a point when we bring him back, and the increased performance will translate to the major league level. There's no doubt he's gone down there and thrown well. Time will tell."
> On the severity of Chase D'Arnaud's left thumb injury, he said it is not career-threatening and that he should be ready for Florida Instructional League, or Arizona Fall League.
Posted
Jul 19 2009, 12:46 PM
by
Dejan Kovacevic