According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the next Pirates GM will approach closer Matt Capps and second baseman Freddy Sanchez about multiyear contracts.
It certainly makes sense to lock up Capps. The 24 year-old is having a spectacular season, his first as the Bucs’ closer. He’s got a 2.04 ERA and 3.9 K/BB. Kovacevic says the plan appears to be to throw him some extra bucks in ’08 in return for a discount covering his three arbitration years. I wonder whether the Red Sox will consider a similar contract offer for Jonathan Papelbon, who has the same amount of service time.
Sanchez turns 30 in December. He’s hitting .312/.352/.454 this year in 570 ABs. Kovacevic believes the goal for him is to cover his final two years before free agency (2008-09). However it’s not out of the question that the Bucs try to tack on 2010 as well. His current $2.75MM salary will definitely increase next year through arbitration if a multiyear pact isn’t reached. I could see an offer something like two years, $10MM or three years, $18MM.
