The Pirates saw this day coming with Pedro Alvarez. They tried to trade him, tried to move him somewhere better suited to his skill set. What kind of offers did they receive?
“Nothing,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “It was surprisingly quiet.”
The Pirates cut ties with Alvarez Wednesday night, ending the relationship with their first-round pick in the 2008 draft by declining to tender him a contract by the 11:59 p.m. deadline.
Alvarez, 28, is now a free agent. The Pirates also non-tendered outfielder Jaff Decker.
“We felt as we looked at our existing club, at the resources it would have taken to retain Pedro, as we look at how we can reapply those resources potentially in a trade or a free-agent market, we felt that it was the right move for the club,” Huntington said.