Pirates Infielders Reject Contract Offers

((HT: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/Kovacevic))

The Pirates have pulled back their contract extension offers to Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez ((pictured, thanks Chris Creamer/Flickr)) and though they remain open to new negotiations, there was no indication that any are forthcoming.

"That time has come and gone," general manager Neal Huntington said this afternoon of the offers' life span. "They feel like we're awfully light both in years and dollars. In our minds, the conversations are at a standstill."

Neither of the player's agents, Page Odle for Wilson and Paul Cobbe for Sanchez, responded formally to initial offers, though Wilson's rejection was not believed to be nearly as emphatic as Sanchez's. Wilson's was for two years and $8 million, plus a club option for 2012. Sanchez's was for two years and $10 million, plus the voiding of his existing 2010 vesting option that could pay him $8 million.

Huntington, who described the initial offers as "expired," strongly suggested that the next move will not be his.

"If they want to continue dialogue, we're open to it," he said. "If not, we understand. We move forward. No harm, no foul."

And how long might the Pirates' door remain open?

"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."

That is July 31.

"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."

Huntington pointed to the lack of counteroffers as pivotal to this point.

"Typically, in a negotiation, you get a counteroffer. 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."