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Photo: David Hague - Inside Pittsburgh Sports

Pirates lose out on Sano

While the Pirates are inching their way towards a 100 loss season, the big news of the week was the Pirates missing out on top Dominican Prospect Miguel Angel Sano.

Sano reached an agreement with the Minnesota Twins, receiving a signing bonus of $3.15 million. There was a general belief that the Pirates were willing to go as high as $4.25 million but the team never offered more than $3 million.

The Pirates were considered the favorites to land Sano but the longer he remained unsigned, it became clear the Pirates were out of the picture.

Negotiations ended in August and Sano's camp no longer wanted to deal with the Pirates due to what they believed was a low ball offer from the Pirates.

Even if the Pirates came in with a $4 million offer at the last minute, Sano's camp claims they would have rejected the offer.

Look for the Pirates to play the spin game this week due to questions surrounding Sano's age, identity and love of the game.

Latest Buzz

*The Pirates want top prospect Pedro Alvarez to spend close to a full season in AAA next season. Alvarez's camp is not happy about it and the pressure will be on the Pirates to bring Alvarez up sooner with Giants catcher Buster Posey (22 years old), the 5th overall pick in the 2008 draft already getting his feet wet in the majors.

*The Pirates have been pleased with the performance of Lastings Milledge who is batting .286 in 53 games with the Pirates. The power numbers have to improve though.

*Scouts see Andy Laroche as the Pirates long-term second baseman. It remains whether the Pirates will see that.

*Neil Walker (.206 avg) is not under much consideration to push for a roster spot next season. He's looking more like a future bench player.

* MLB Insiders predict the next manager of the Pirates will be