BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pittsburgh Pirates renewed the
contracts of left fielder Jason Bay and left-hander Oliver Perez on
Wednesday after they failed to come to terms on new deals.
Bay will make $355,000, a $50,000 increase over last year, when
he was selected the National League rookie of the year. Perez will
earn $381,000, a $60,000 raise and the highest one-year salary for
a non-arbitration player in team history.
Third baseman Ty Wigginton signed a one-year contract before the
team's 5 p.m. deadline for contract renewals. Terms of the deal
were not disclosed.
Any player who didn't sign his contract by the deadline was
subject to a $10,000 penalty, but the Pirates did not penalize
Perez or Bay.
"We would love to have had everybody come to terms at the
amount we offered," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said.
"We feel that we rewarded both of these guys for having good
years. They decided the reward wasn't enough."
Bay batted .282 with 26 homers and 82 RBIss last year.
Perez emerged as one of baseball's top young left-handed
pitchers, going 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 196
innings in his first full major league season. He led all starters
in strikeouts per nine innings.