Have Recent Moves By The Pirates Been Financially Motivated?

Pirates Have Defended Sanchez Draft Pick As A "Baseball Decision"

The Pirates have defended several recent moves, including the trade of CF Nate McLouth to the Braves and the selection of Boston College C Tony Sanchez with the No. 4 pick in the Draft, as a "baseball decision," but the team for about a year now has been "making major moves that seemed to have ... financial motives," according to Bob Smizik of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. Smizik: "I believe that [GM] Neal Huntington and president Frank Coonelly are sincerely interested in putting the best product on the field. I also believe their attempts at doing just that are being compromised." The Pirates are "experiencing financial difficulties," and while the team "might have preferred to dump a larger salary, McLouth's was the easiest to unload." And it helped that he would "bring the most in return." Meanwhile, Sanchez was "willing to sign on the cheap and without a lot of hassle," but "what kind of way is that to run a business?" Smizik: "It's all enough to make someone who believes the Pirates really are trying to do things the right way to believe otherwise" (POST-GAZETTE.com, 6/11). In Pittsburgh, Chuck Finder writes the "signability component of the Pirates' draft kicked in yesterday in a big way." The Pirates "immediately launched negotiations with an unspecified group" of draftees, as Huntington said that 21 players the team drafted in rounds 4 through 30 "have asked for six-figure deals to sign." The Pirates' strategy "means they have money to spend," as they will pay Sanchez an estimated $2.5M and "perhaps as much as $7[M] on the rest of the draft class" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 6/11).

LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Huntington said the Pirates will be "very aggressive" in signing their draft picks. Huntington: "We're going to allocate our resources as aggressively and efficiently as we can." The team used "several early-round selections yesterday on high school pitchers who are signed with prominent college programs," so they "will have to make offers enticing enough to lure them away from college scholarships." Huntington: "Without question, part of the post-draft is recruiting. Mom and dad are sometimes a little bit hesitant sending their son off into the real world. Pirate City and the dorm options are a tremendous stepping stone. It allows us to ensure they're in the position to make the right decisions, one could argue, even better than on a college campus" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 6/11).

Purke's Financial Demands May Have Scared Off Several Teams

PAYING A HIGH PRICE: In Ft. Worth, Randy Galloway writes the Rangers were "obviously well aware of financial demands that scared off maybe a half dozen other teams" from drafting high school P Matt Purke, which is "why Purke 'slipped' to the 14th spot in the first round of the draft" for the Rangers. There was "some thought it would take a Boston or the Yankees, much deeper in the first round, to meet the financial demands" from Purke. Rangers Owner Tom Hicks is "on his way out as owner, and attempting to identify the next owner is a bit murky at the moment," so drafting Purke was a "serious play by our currently cash-strapped, low-budget Arlington outfit." It is "irony ... that with the franchise now in financial distress, there was suddenly a one-eighty in approach on Purke," who reportedly seeks a contract similar to the four-year, $7.285M deal Tigers P Rick Porcello received in '07 (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/11).

FOR THE REDBIRDS: In St. Louis, Bernie Miklasz writes it is "going to take a nice pile of up-front money" for the Cardinals to sign No. 19 pick high school P Shelby Miller, which "raises the stakes in this interesting gamble." Pre-Draft speculation indicated that Miller's agent was "seeking around $4[M] for his client," but he "may not get" that figure. Still, "chances are likely that the Cardinals will end up paying above the 'slot' price," and if the team does not "go to extra lengths to sign Miller, it would be a public-relations fiasco" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 6/11).