Pirates Pull Back Extension Offers to Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson

Just a few days after news broke that the Pittsburgh Pirates had offered extensions to Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dejan Kovacevic is reporting that the team has pulled the offers off the table after they were rejected by the players over the early part of the weekend (which was originally reported on Twitter by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Rob Biertempfel.)

The general perception is that Sanchez rejected the two-year, $10 million offer made to him because the three-time All-Star believes he's worth more than that, which led to Wilson rejecting his two-year, $8 million offer because his staying in Pittsburgh is conditional upon his friend Sanchez staying. The team has already said they don't have much wiggle room with the offers, and GM Neal Huntington has made it clear that it's on the players now to continue the negotiation.

The complicating factor in all this is the trade deadline, which is just 12 days away. The Pirates would likely be able to find a suitor for Sanchez, whose $8 million option for 2010 will vest with 600 at-bats, as he's strong defensively, his bat is much better than Wilson's, and he's under control for one more year if he reaches the option. The Pirates aren't crazy about paying him $8 million during their rebuilding process but as the standings tighten and the deadline approaches, someone will likely be interested.

Finding a suitor for Wilson will be tougher; his $8.4 million option is pretty unreasonable and without it, he'll be a free agent in two months. There's been an indication from the team that Wilson is their real target in these negotiations; he's playing arguably the best defense of his career in 2009 and he can probably be had for much less than Sanchez. Therefore, the best guess as to how this all plays out may be that the Pirates will trade Sanchez and try their hardest to convince Wilson stay in town, maybe for slightly more than they just offered.