Dejan Kovacevic and Rob Biertempfel both spoke to Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson recently. While the quotes gathered from each aren’t mutually exclusive, they don’t seem to gel when compared.
The main point of Kovacevic’s section on Wilson is that he would like to stay in Pittsburgh, mainly because of the change in management.
Biertempfel had an extended Q&A with Wilson. With him, Wilson speaks of a "very good possibility" this is his last season as a Pirate. The shortstop has been mulling over some kind of goodbye to Pirates fans at the last home game this year.
Wilson’s OPS was down to .641 on July 28th. But in 99 ABs since, Wilson hit .414/.474/.677 to raise his overall OPS to a more respectable .757. The hot streak might make the shortstop’s contract go down a little more easily for another GM. Wilson makes $6.5MM in ’08 and $7.25MM in ’09. He has an $8.4MM option for 2010 with a $600K buyout attached. Wilson can block trades to six clubs each year, but he told the Bucs in August he’d waive the clause for any trade. The Pirates were in negotiations with the Tigers at one point.
