Pedro Alvarez refused to sign his contract

[Pogotheostrich]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3556133
Boras vs. the Pirates this could get messy.

[MaudDib]

Not good for one of the more MLB ready guys out of that draft. Hopefully something happens soon. It won't help Alveraz if he has to go back into the draft next year.

[Big Pimpin]

Pirates, Alvarez agree to reworked deal

Ok, I don't understand this at all. If it's true that the collective bargaining agreement was violated because the deal wasn't done in time, wouldn't that put him back into the draft pool for next year? I just fail to see how he could potentially be declared a free agent or even be able to renegotiate with the Pirates and agree to a deal now. If the deal wasn't done by the August deadline, how can a deal that everyone knows was agreed to in late September be acceptable?

Maybe I'm just completely missing something, but this whole thing has me royally confused.

[kimchi_chigae]

Pirates, Alvarez agree to reworked deal

Ok, I don't understand this at all. If it's true that the collective bargaining agreement was violated because the deal wasn't done in time, wouldn't that put him back into the draft pool for next year? I just fail to see how he could potentially be declared a free agent or even be able to renegotiate with the Pirates and agree to a deal now. If the deal wasn't done by the August deadline, how can a deal that everyone knows was agreed to in late September be acceptable?

Maybe I'm just completely missing something, but this whole thing has me royally confused.

This whole thing is quite a mess. Because Alvarez was granted an extension, there was no need for him to actually sign the deal at the deadline, putting Alvarez back in the draft pool next year could potentially hurt his value for next year, which wouldn't be fair to the player. However, declaring him a free agent wouldn't do much good either, as it would end up rewarding Alvarez with a better contract. Reworking his contract in mid-September actually looks like the best option right now, even though it doesn't make things right, as it is not fair to any of the players who signed at the deadline.