Pirates Rumors: Offseason Alex Verdugo offer revealed (and it's surprisingly high)

Prior to signing Tommy Pham to a one-year deal, the Pirates showed interest in other avenues on the free agent market. One name that was brought up multiple times was Alex Verdugo, who still remains unsigned with three weeks to go until Opening Day.

The former Yankee is coming off a bit of a down year, but he still has been an average-to-above-average player his entire career. Due to a solid past, Verdugo has set the bar for himself very high, which is turning teams away from him this winter (into spring).

A high price tag for a player coming off a season where he put together a wRC+ of 83 with 13 home runs and an OPS of .647 is surprising. He also comes with some positives, like a low strikeout rate of 15% and eight defensive runs saved in left field, but clearly has a higher opinion of his worth than the rest of the league does.

Even with all of those depressing stats, the Pirates saw an opportunity this offseason, and reportedly offered him a one-year contract worth $8 million, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (subscription required). Heyman also noted that the money offered to Verdugo was then used on Pham and Andrew Heaney. The Pham addition also takes away an everyday job in Pittsburgh, which is exactly what Verdugo was after.

Pirates offered Alex Verdugo an overpriced contract prior to signing Tommy Pham.

If the Pirates had signed Verdugo instead, their outfield would look a bit different. Bryan Reynolds still would have moved to right field and Oneil Cruz still would have handled center, but the bench would look different than what is projected. At the moment, the fourth outfielder role is still up for grabs between Jack Suwinski and Josh Palacios. Given that Verdugo and those two are left-handed, the fourth outfield spot would have likely been a right-handed bat so that the outfield could be switch around against southpaws.

The difference between Pham and Verdugo is eight years of age, but the Pirates saved around $4 million with Pham. Not that Verdugo wanted to sign for $8 million, either, but still, the Pirates landed the cheaper choice. Verdugo looks like he messed up turning down the Pirates' offer.