I'm writing this on my iPhone when I should be studying biology, so it's going to be quick.The news broke today that the Pirates had wanted to bid on Roy Oswalt, but were told to not waste their time. This comes one day after we heard that Ye Pirates had offered Edwin Jackson a 3 year deal. So now my question is did those two failed attempts cost the Pirates the chance to sign a lesser pitcher like Jeff Francis?Earlier on this offseason, I was expecting the Pirates to get Francis. He seemed like a cheap guy that could fit in well with PNC Park who might actually want to come here. The Pirates clearly didn't try very hard to get him, if at all, because Francis ended up taking a minor league deal with the Reds.Now did the Pirates skip on Francis just to see if they could get Jackson or Oswalt? I don't think we will ever know, but it wouldn't surprise me if that was true.At the end of the day, not getting Jeff Francis isn't going to hurt the Pirates much. I thin...
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