Pirates, Taillon inch closer to deal on eve of signing deadline

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made substantial progress in contract talks with 2010 1st round pick Jameson Taillon and the two sides are nearing an agreement as talks concluded late Sunday afternoon for the day.

The deal is officially expected to be finalized by early Monday afternoon. According to a source close to the situation, the two sides have agreed on a signing bonus in the low $6 million range which is viewed as a major win inside the Pirates organization.

The signing bonus Taillon will receive is nearing the highest total in Pirates history but does not exceed the $6.35 million signing bonus, MLB contract Pedro Alvarez signed in 2008, according to team sources.

Taillon was seeking a signing bonus upwards of $6.7 million, the amount Donovan Tate, highest drafted high school player (3rd overall, 2009 draft) signed for last season.

GM Neal Huntington and Randy Hendricks held their first set of substantive talks Saturday morning and quickly laid the framework for a deal. Talks quickly intensified throughout most of the day on Saturday

Taillon was widely regarded inside the industry to sign. Sources tell Inside Pittsburgh Sports, GM Neal Huntington went into the weekend with about $9 million to spend as a substantial amount of that money was expected to go towards Taillon and a lesser extent to second round pick Stetson Allie.

Not including Taillon, the Pirates have three more offers on the table, including an agreement reached with 15th round pick Drew Maggi as negotiations continue with their draft picks.

As of 7:00 p.m., the Pirates though were not close to a deal with Stetson Allie. Allie not Taillon was expected to be the harder sign.

Progress has been made today but the two sides still have some work to do when talks resume Monday morning.