This has nothing to do with Wilson's baseball abilities, which are basically average. But he is stellar in another respect that is often overlooked: citizenship. Pirate greats like Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell weren't just great ball players, they were great human beings as well.
Clemente died at the tragically young age of 39 in a plane crash while personally flying relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Stargell's contributions are a bit less dramatic, but he has been active in local charities since retiring from baseball.
Ditto for Jack Wilson, except that he has been charitable before retiring from baseball. His cost to Pittsburgh, as opposed to the Pittsburgh Pirates, is decidedly less than what he is being paid, because a large chunk (millions) goes back to charity.
More to the point, Wilson even offered to renegotiate his salary downward if he were allowed to stay. That is a signal of great citizenship. (His standard of living might not suffer if he elected to take it out of his charitable contributions, but it would be a loss for Pittsburgh as opposed to the Pirates).
Management should not take him up on his offer, but should note his dedication.
With Jason Bay gone, Wilson is about all that's left of the "old" (pre-2006) Pirates—a badly needed core to build the team around. He would also be an example of what players could "look forward to" if they decided to stay. And he is one of the few examples of competent defense on a team that is largely lacking in this skill.
Pittsburgh is an unusual place that is not to everyone's taste. Therefore, anyone of reasonable talent who shows a desire to stay should be met at least half way. Take it from yours truly, who couldn't wait to leave for the brighter lights of New York City.
Jason Bay was another case in point. If he had not been traded, he would be making barely more than the much less valuable Adam LaRoche, because he had signed a "cheap" contract extension to the end of 2009.
The conventional wisdom was that Bay could have been re-signed for perhaps $10 million, for the privilege of remaining in Pittsburgh, even though he might command $15 million in the open market.
Bay is one of the best players in the majors. He was also about the best player that Pittsburgh could reasonably hope for. He was also an upstanding citizen who was beginning to put down roots in the city, start up charitable activities, and would have been "the next Willie Stargell" off the field as well as on, had he been allowed to stay.
I would not say these things about Xavier Nady, whose agent is Scott Boras, which is to say that he would have taken the Pirates (a low budget team) for all he was worth (McLouth and Morgan were intermediate cases between Bay and Nady).
Nor do I shed any tears for Aramis Ramirez, who wanted "bigger and better" things and would have left on his own if he had not been traded. But most analysis fails to distinguish between the citizenship characteristics of the two groups of men.
In contrast, at least three "boys" on whom the Pirates pin their future hopes—Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and Lastings Milledge—are notorious for being bad citizens. Alvarez, whose agent is Scott Boras, showed his bad citizenship and bad faith all during his contract negotiations.
To give Tabata the benefit of the doubt, his erratic behavior may have something to do with his distress about his wife, who is a very bad citizen. Lastings Milledge could be the next Manny Ramirez—an outstanding raw talent with a temper to match and therefore totally unreliable.
Who needs these problems?
Fans, like owners and managers, want a winning team. But before that, they have the right to a real team—people that their children could look up to, men that you want your sons to emulate, and aren't afraid of leaving your daughters with, alone. Jack Wilson and Jason Bay fit this bill. Some of the newer members might not.
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