Well, the Pirates have apparently been making a last-ditch effort to make a big splash and improve their pitching this season, but it didn’t work. They went after free agents Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt, but Jackson signed with the Nationals instead and Oswalt “rebuffed” their offers to join a bidding war.
Both would have been welcome additions – they’re relatively big names that would boost payroll, make the fans happy, and improve the Bucs’ awful rotation depth. The Pirates were willing to pay for Jackson – they made a “substantial” 3-year offer in the range of $10 million/year, and he ended up taking a 1-year deal for $11 million with the upstart Nationals. We don’t know what they would have offered Oswalt because they were “rebuffed” before even joining the bidding, but other teams’ interest in Oswalt has dwindled lately and he shut the Pirates off anyway.
The point is, it takes two to tango and neith...
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