Pirates, Alvarez To Finalize Deal When MLBPA Drops Grievance

In order for the Pirates' revised four-year, $6.355M contract with first-round draft pick 3B Pedro Alvarez, agreed to late Sunday night, to become official, the MLBPA's "grievance against commissioner Bud Selig's office ... must be dropped," Alvarez "must report to Pittsburgh for his physical" and the contract must be signed, according to sources cited by Dejan Kovacevic of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The MLBPA grievance alleges that "more than one team, including the Pirates, received an extension to negotiate with draft picks beyond the midnight Aug. 15 deadline," and the union is "believed to be seeking assurance from Selig's office that it no longer will unilaterally grant extensions to the deadline." The second hearing in the case was scheduled for today, and "neither MLB nor the union appear to wish that it will proceed, given that the principal parties have settled and the massive legal costs involved." Once the grievance has been resolved, the Pirates and Alvarez "can move to the next step," and Royals draft pick 1B Eric Hosmer, "another drafted player whose agreement was completed after the deadline, will be allowed to resume playing." One source said that the talks that led to the revised agreement between the Pirates and Alvarez "came with the full blessing of MLB and the union, as did the settlement itself" (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 9/23). In Pittsburgh, Rob Biertempfel reports the revised deal "could be worth nearly $8[M], depending upon how quickly Alvarez is promoted" to MLB (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 9/23).

Print This Article