Sanchez's San Francisco Signing Shows Pirates What Might Have Been

Freddy Sanchez is a good "sport." The Pittsburgh Pirates' management is not.

Sanchez re-signed with the San Francisco Giants at a total of $12 million for two years, or $6 million per. This compares to the $10 million that FanGraphs values him at for 2009 alone.

My readers know that I would have gladly offered Sanchez $12 million for ONE year. Given a limping second half, after his strong first half, that may represent an overpayment for his baseball contributions. It would probably fairly values his baseball AND civic contributions to the city.

But Sanchez was willing to sign for much less than $12 million per. We now know that he would have signed for six.

Even if we "padded" the deal to $8 million per (as a very shrewd hotel man named Conrad Hilton would do in "strategic" situations), Sanchez would still be a bargain.

But the Pirates tried to chisel him down to $10 million over two years or $5 million per, and wouldn't listen to a counteroffer from him before trading him for Tim Alderson, a prospect.

So why try to keep Sanchez when you can trade him for someone like Alderson, who's PROBABLY worth more than $8 million to the Pirates (the difference between Sanchez' $20 million production over two years and his $12 million salary).

First, Alderson is just POTENTIAL, and possibly a "pig in a poke." Sanchez is "for sure" (almost, anyway). Second, and more important, is the effect of Sanchez on OTHER players.

He is one of the $10 million dollar players who is not holding out for top dollar, unlike e.g. Los Angeles Dodgers' Juan Pierre, who's been overpaid since 2006. Pittsburgh needs more examples of people like him who will play for "love" rather than money.

People might say, "If you keep Sanchez, you need to keep Jack Wilson," who was worth about $8 million a year, but who would have been willing to work for $6 million if he could do so with Sanchez.

Here's another example of the "Pittsburgh discount," for a lower cost of living, a less hectic lifestyle, and greater chances for local celebrity. Wilson, like Sanchez, was also a superlative "citizen" OFF the field.

And apparently, coach Perry Hill left in disgust because of so many changes, particularly to the infield. Under him, the Pirates had the lowest error rate in major league baseball. And a large part of the reason was the Wilson Sanchez double play combo.

Sanchez and Wilson AND Hill, was too much a price to pay for Tim Alderson. Great guys on and off the field. In fact, I'd pay up for them just for their potential contributions AFTER baseball.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com