Pittsburgh and Duran Break Off Talks

May 31, 2002, Pittsburgh, by correspondent Max Mercy:

Insides sources have revealed that the Pittsburgh Pisces front office and reigning Cy Young Award winner Gaby Duran have broken off talks on a contract extension. Duran is in his last year of arbitration and is expected to hit free agency this offseason. Duran went 20-6 last year with a 2.91 ERA, picking up the inaugural Platonic League Cy Young Award. He's on pace this year to win 20 games again and has lowered his ERA to 2.54. However, according to team sources, Pittsburgh and Duran were unable to reach agreement on a long-term extension and Duran has broken off talks. It is unknown whether the fact that Duran is not a Pisces affected the negotiations.

"We have lots of options," said the anonymous member of the front office. "We know our window for a title is running out. We may just hold on to him, play out the year, and see if we can win it all. We also have some other contingency plans for keeping him for another year, depending on what happens the next few months. Obviously though, we're open to offers for him."

Superstar first baseman Bruce Bremer is also in the final year of his contract, making the next few months of the season leading up to the trade deadline very interesting in the Steel City.