Bob Pompiani

There's a risk for him in that he may not live up to it, but he is going to get $140 million guaranteed him no matter what.

The risk for the Pirates is if it doesn't work out, so be it.

It's $15 million a year or that range.

I think that's very doable, and it's good to get ahead of the curve now because they have some extra years of control, which won't be the case with Skeens.

We get a lot of questions here about, well, why can't they do Skeens now?

The problem with that is that ship has sailed.

He's won a Rookie of the Year.

He's won a Cy Young.

The price has gone up each and every year, and it won't go anywhere but up.

Did you have any inclination that the Pirates wanted to do this sort of thing when he first came up, Jeff?

You heard different things, but I don't think there was anything substantial on those.

Do you think if Griffin was represented by Boris, it would have been a different outcome?

Yeah, but if Connor Griffin really wants to do this, it's his choice, right?

Regardless of who your agent is.

And you also could benefit if Carolina gets upset.

And if they play Ottawa in the first round, I'm not so sure.

I'd certainly pick them to win, but I wouldn't be surprised if Ottawa, who has some really high-end talent on their team too, could pull an upset.

Sometimes you've got to get lucky along the way too, Jeff.

If you can knock out a team that you've had problems against because they get upset early in the process,

the road to the Eastern Conference Finals gets a little easier.