DownSwinging.com

There’s a good chance double-play combo in Pittsburgh is going to be a little different next year. The Pirates have announced that contract negotiations with their two 31-year old middle infielders, Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson, have both individually stalled. The Pirates have a club option with both players for 2010, both in the $8 million region, but entered contract negotiations anyway. Realistically, it appears that these negotiations were more of a formality. In both cases the Pirates offered two-year deals (2010 and 2011) for a decent amount of money, but in each case would cause the players to make less money in 2010 than what they would have gotten in 2010 had the club picked up their option.

So even though these two fellas are the face of the Pirates organization, (especially since the Nate McLouth trade) they really had no choice but to reject the deals. In truth, these negotations were merely an act of courtesy to Sanchez and Wilson, for the dedication to the team. It was also an indication to the fans, as if to say, “We tried to sign them, but they weren’t going for it so we had to let them go.”