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Pirates Unlikely To Offer Major League Deal To Alvarez

According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates still have not offered top draft pick Pedro Alvarez a Major League contract.  Kovacevic does not expect the Bucs to do so but won't rule it out.  It's rumored that Giants' top pick Buster Posey will get a big league deal, while #1 pick Tim Beckham signed a minor league contract.  Of course, Posey was a college player while Beckham signed out of high school.

Despite that possible issue, Kovacevic speaks of "palpable optimism" for a deal on the Pirates side.  Yahoo's Jeff Passan writes about the turnabout for Frank Coonelly, who now gets to deal with Scott Boras' over-slot demands firsthand.


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If the Pirates won't offer a major league deal, then they have no chance. I can't believe that they wouldn't, though. They must've known he would want a major league deal when they drafted him. If Buster Posey gets a major league contract, then Alvarez does, or he walks away.

Does a Major league deal put the player on the 40-man roster? The 25? What're the specifics there?

If a player signs a major league contract he goes straight to the 25 man and they have to use one of his options to send him down right off the bat. That is why teams don't like signing people to major league deals because they instantly waste one of the guys options.

Also a while ago there was a report on pirates.com that had said they DID offer him a Major League contract. Either way there is no way the Pirates don't sign this guy.

Goes to the 40 man roster, not the 25. It'd be crazy to be adding kids to the active roster like that.

If the Pirates lose Alvarez that would make it two times in a row they had a shot at the best position player in the draft but for whatever reason they passed. I think it's a moral mandate that they sign Alvarez no matter what it takes.

Man, I guess the Giants did what they felt they had to do to get their man, but they just screwed over the Pirates and, to a lesser extent, the Reds, Rangers, and maybe the Royals (not sure if it'll have any effect on a high school guy). I also wonder how it might effect the O's talks with Matusz- if he'll now up his demands.

I think Joe is right- Alvarez WILL get a MLB deal or return to school. He can't be seen to lose face after coming into the draft as the overwhelming pick as the top position player, and with Boras as his handler. Furthermore, the Bucs HAVE to give it to him; they cannot afford to lose Alvarez after the Moskos/Wieters disaster- and its continued effects now that Wieters is absolutely destroying AA and Moskos is struggling in a relief role. Any goodwill won via the Bay deal would be lost in an instant. Sure, the Pirates would get the third pick next year (along with their regular pick...which will be pretty high) and that class is shaping up to be a very good one, but THAT pick could totally hold the Bucs hostage, since they'd lose the pick altogether if they don't sign next year's compensatory selection.

I still think this deal gets done, but this is EXACTLY why I thought Pittsburgh would pass on Alvarez prior to the draft. That said, I thought that the Rays were going to pick Posey and the Bucs would take Beckham (who, obviously, was considered a comparable player and, thus, wouldn't have hurt them PR-wise, while saving a LOT of money). Once the Rays went with Beckham, it was pretty much a done deal. Posey would always be compared to Wieters (who he's not really that close to, talent-wise) and no other pick made sense. Still...this is what was destined to happen and here we are.

As far as the MLB contract thing... As Tim said, the draft pick goes on the 40 man roster, however the club does have to use an option and, perhaps more importantly (though less so with a polished position player like Alvarez), has X amount of time to make the Show...or else the club loses the player (essentially). This is more of a concern when you're talking about pitchers, who generally take longer to develop. Furthermore, the draft pick takes up a slot on the 40 man roster, which means the club has one less spot they can use for a player who might actually contribute (that year). It's ridiculous that these kids ask for it, since it immediately sets a 'me over the team' tone that can really hurt the long term relationship he has with the organization AND since it can actually hurt his development as a player AND since he's already getting the big bonus and stands to gain (comparatively) little as a result. MLB should step in and put an end to the nonsense once and for all.

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