Edwin Jackson Turned Down The Pirates

Pirates management listened to our plight and offered Edwin Jackson a contract. They reportedly offered him three years and $30 million. Jackson declined the offer and signed with the Nationals for one year and $11 million.

Jackson was looking for more money than what he got when all was said and done. No team wanted to give him what he wanted, so he had to lower his asking price. At the end of it, he changed his mindset to wanting a one-year deal so he could put up some numbers and hopefully get more money next year. That explains why he signed on with the Nationals.

However, a three-year, $30 million deal is a pretty good offer. That gives you more security in the long haul; if you get hurt during a one-year contract, you're going to lose a good amount of money when free agency comes back along.

Jackson would rather risk that than play for Pittsburgh however. Sure, he's making $1 million more this year than he would have in the three year deal the Pirates offered (assuming it would be split evenly three ways, which it probably wouldn't have), but you would think a longer deal would be more appealing for him.

To me, this isn't as big a slap in the face as it seems. Jackson wants a 5+ year deal, and he wasn't getting it this offseason. He was settled in to signing a one-year deal so he can try and get the longer stuff next year, and the Nationals offered it.

He didn't turn down a ton more money from the Pirates just to play for a better team, he simply set himself up to get a huge contract next year. There is a risk there, but you can't really blame him for taking on the risk for this cause.

Plus, the Nationals certainly look a lot better than the Pirates right now, so you really can't blame the guy for what he did. Hopefully in a few years the Pirates will be a winning team and free agents will want to take less money to come here, but for now, we kind of just have to move on.