Jim Callis of Baseball America and Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have all kinds of details on the Pedro Alvarez situation.
- After Bud Selig testified on the first day of the hearing, Scott Boras and the Pirates got in touch (it’s not known who broke the ice). The Pirates renegotiation doesn’t look great for president Frank Coonelly, who was publicly against the idea.
- Callis implies that MLB and the Pirates may have made a calculated move by finishing the Alvarez deal after the deadline. Maybe Boras and Alvarez aren’t the villains here, after all. Unlike the Julio Borbon signing in ’07, the Pirates didn’t contact the players union for approval of the extension. Hopefully Alvarez is given a fair shake by baseball fans.
- Callis considers the new deal an improvement for Alvarez and Boras, despite the present-day value of $5.67MM. The Pirates save face with the lower number, but ultimately it looks like Boras and Alvarez won this battle.
