Last week we heard that Edwin Jackson received a few three year offers before eventually signing a one year, $11 M deal with the Washington Nationals. Ken Rosenthal reports today that the Pirates were one of the teams with a three year offer.
Rosenthal tweeted that the Pirates made a three year offer to Jackson, and also made a one year offer which was below the amount that Jackson received from Washington. He followed up that he didn’t know the details of the three year offer, but that he was told it was “substantial”, and in the range of $10 M a year.
It’s encouraging to hear that the Pirates attempted to sign Jackson, as he was definitely a fit for them. If they offered three years at around $10 M a year, that’s definitely a fair offer. But I think the reality is that the Pirates can’t offer a fair price and get the player. Jackson chose to go to Washington because he viewed them as a contender, and because it gave him a chance to re-enter the market next year.
Because of the Pirates’ current situation, it would take an above market price to get players to sign here. We saw that earlier in the off-season with Rod Barajas and Clint Barmes. Jackson is just another example.
This marks the second year in a row that the Pirates have made a big multi-year offer to a free agent starting pitcher. Last year they went for Jorge de la Rosa, reportedly offering him a multi-year deal that paid around $10 M a year. De La Rosa ended up re-signing with Colorado, who gave him a player option after year two, which would allow him to re-enter free agency if he played above his contract the first two years.
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