With the trade deadline approaching the Pittsburgh Pirates are continuing their stingy ways. Contract negotiations with middle infielders Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson are at a stand still and both are now expected to hit the trade market. General Manager Neal Huntington said, “They feel like we’re awfully light both in years and dollars. In our minds, the conversations are at a standstill.”

Last week Huntington made offers to both players, both of which should be considered low ball ones. Wilson was offered $8 million for two years, with a club option for 2012 and over riding his current club option of $8.4 million for 2010. Sanchez was offered only $10 million for two years. A Sanchez extension would also void his vesting option which could pay him $8 million in 2010.

So yea, low ball offers as both players would be taking pay cuts with Sanchez’s being a forced pay cut. Freddy’s vesting option is based on 600 plate appearances, he’s already at 349 so barring any injuries he’ll easily hit that number. The offer becomes even more of a joke when you also consider he’s a three time All-Star.

There’s a bigger problem here then low ball offers. Are the Pirates negotiating in good faith or trying to make the fans think they’re trying to keep the two talented players? It really all depends on who you believe.

If you believe Pirates management they are.

Huntington says, “There’s only one good outcome for us in the PR sense, and that’s if both players sign. For us to take a PR beating to make offers that weren’t genuine wouldn’t be a smart move. We made these offers with the understanding that we wanted these players to stay here. The first offer has expired. But, as long as they’re Pirates, we’ll be open to considering keeping them.”

After hearing that you would think he really wants to keep these guys. You would think the negotiations are in good faith. Huntington tries to paint the players in a negative light thou, implying that neither was willing to make a counter-offer.

“Typically, in a negotiation, you get a counter-offer. That’s how conversations continue. We’ve not gotten that to this point. We felt pretty strongly that our structure was in place but that we were open to some adjustments off it. Not huge differences in years or dollars. But if there was something that added value to the player, we’re open to that.”

The counter-offer statements are where the real problems begin. Wilson, a player very open to staying in Pittsburgh if Sanchez is in the fold, is saying that the players weren’t even given a chance to negotiate.

“Answer me this: How can we respond with counter-offers when we were told that those were take-it-or-leave-it offers?” Wilson said. “How do you counter that?”

Knowing the history of the Pirates and free agency you’d have to believe Wilson. It’s really hard not to think he’s telling the truth isn’t it? Looking back who was the last big ticket free agent? Who was the last high payed player that they actually kept?

I’m thinking hard right now but can’t think of one. I know there has to be one but I’m not going to research it, the point is the Pirates don’t do it often.

In preparing this article, I read today’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and there was something very troubling in it. Huntington called himself an “idiot” for extending Sanchez’s contract. “A year ago, I was an idiot for extending Freddy for $6 million. And now, I’m an idiot for not being willing to give him a heck of a lot more than that.”

He’s got somewhat of a point but then again he doesn’t. Last year was an off-year for Sanchez only batting .271 so yea the fans are going to call you stupid. In 2009, Sanchez is back to his .300+ average, already surpassed last years double total and almost matched his homerun production.

So you’d have to say this is back to the normal Sanchez and 2008 was an aberration. So Huntington in reality you are smart for the extension, and an idiot for not ponying up for 2010. He’s one player that is definitely worth $8 million and probably more then that.

There’s another reason that quote is troubling, not just because of Sanchez’s production. It’s Huntington’s constant need to defend himself to the media. He’s way to defensive and apologetic for apparent bad choices. This isn’t the first time he’s gone public like this, remember not to long ago he called the extension of Ian Snell a mistake.

After all this one can see the obvious problem with today’s Pirates and it’s not the money. It’s management. With someone like Huntington at the helm there’s no trust at all. Big league ballplayers are not going to come to Pittsburgh with this guy making low ball offers. Not with this guy calling his decisions and players “mistakes”.

Pittsburgh may be considered a small market, but they could compete if they really wanted too. They’ve got enough fans that would support this team if they too could trust management. They’ve got a very loyal fan base who just wants a team they can root for. They want their favorites to stay, not be traded away or allowed to walk.

With a beautiful stadium like PNC Park, arguably the best in the league, there’s no excuses. The fans will come out if given a reason and the Pirates could be relevant again. In attempt to make that happen, owners should first override their GM and get deals with these two players done. Then a make a change at the general manager position.