Dejan Kovacevic reports that Cubs outfielder Alfonso Soriano, who has a no-trade clause, would have blocked a trade to the Pirates.
He declined to accept a trade to Pittsburgh, I learned tonight. Now, I don't know how far talks might have gone, if they started all. Just that, whether they did or not, Soriano wasn't coming to the Pirates.
Soriano is in the midst of a strong season, but he's 36 and will be owed $18 million a year through 2014. That would have made it difficult for the Pirates to trade for him in any case, although it might have been possible, depending on how much money the Cubs kicked in.
Instead of getting Soriano, the Pirates wound up trading for Travis Snider to address their present and future needs in the outfield. Snider is under team control for four more years after 2012, at what will likely be reasonable prices.
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