Today we heard that James Loney is the top target for the Pirates at first base. In that article I posted an update from Jeff Passan that Loney was seeking three years and $27-30 M per year.
Source: James Loney started offseason seeking a four-year, $40M deal. Belief is he's now seeking something in the three-year, $27-30M range.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 4, 2013
What a player is asking for and what a player eventually receives are two totally different things. As an example, last year Russell Martin was reported to be asking for a four-year deal at $9-10 M per year, which is where Loney started this year.
I'm told Martin is looking for four years and $9-10M per. Doubt Yanks will do that.
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) November 27, 2012
Martin signed two days after that tweet, getting two years and $8.5 M per year. I don’t know if that means Loney will eventually get what Martin received. What I do know is that if there was a team willing to give Loney $9-10 M per year, he probably would have already taken that deal. My guess is that Loney will sign for $7-8 M per year, and might be young enough to get a three-year deal.
