Ken Rosenthal reports that the Pirates offered starting pitcher Edwin Jackson a three-year deal in the neighborhood of $30 million. Jackson rejected that deal, and also a one-year deal, before taking a one-year, $11 million deal from the Washington Nationals. Jackson will head back to the market next year to try to sign a bigger contract.
↵The Pirates certainly could have used Jackson, who would have become the ace of their staff. I've been on the Pirates' case recently for not doing anything to fix their shaky starting rotation, but this news at least shows that they're trying.
↵The Bucs currently have a rotation of Erik Bedard, Charlie Morton, James McDonald, Jeff Karstens and Kevin Correia. All have question marks -- Bedard is constantly injured, Morton is coming off an offseason injury, McDonald doesn't work deep enough into games, Karstens was a swingman until recently, and Correia is just bad.
↵For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout.