SUNDAY, 7:13pm: Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette clears things up. It is a guaranteed contract of $8MM for three years, with a $600K signing bonus. The two option years are worth at least $16MM, not including "standard incentive clauses." That’s a great deal for the Bucs, wouldn’t you say?
SUNDAY, 6:23pm: The three-year deal is worth at least $8MM, according to a CBSSports.com wire report.
SUNDAY, 4:22pm: It has just been announced on MLB.com that the Pirates have signed starting pitcher Ian Snell to a three-year guaranteed contract, with club options for 2011 and 2012. Salary amounts have not yet been released, though Tim has surveyed the range of possible contract amounts here and here.
This season is Snell’s last before becoming arbitration eligible. As Tim pointed out earlier, $13-14MM is the the going rate for a talented young pitcher’s arbitration eligible years.
Pirates fans have to be encouraged by this announcement, as Senior VP and GM Neal Huntington has been held out as a reason for true optimism in The Land of the Three Rivers. Additionally, Snell is one of the more talented young starting pitchers in the NL, ranking sixth in strikeouts in the league since the beginning of the 2006 season.
Said Huntington, "This is another example of the organization’s commitment to build a championship caliber club. Retaining talented young players developed in our system will help us achieve our goal of bringing championships back to Pittsburgh."
