FanPost

If the Pirates don't increase payroll to $50 M

I have read from several sources that the Pirates have the ability and desire to increase payroll to around the $50 M mark for 2011. Of course Neal Huntington astutely commented that they won't spend money just for the hell of it (I am paraphrasing, obviously), and the Pirates need to wait for the right deal in a year where the free agency pool is very thin. If the Pirates do not find any good bargains and only spend, say, $40 million, where does the "surplus" money go? Do we anticipate that money being made available for Huntington next offseason to go towards a signing bonus of another free agent, or during the season to sign a marquee international player, or is the money "gone forever"?

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