Third baseman Pedro Alvarez, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 MLB draft and one of the greatest stars in Vanderbilt history, is in jeopardy of losing his place with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Alvarez has been placed on the restricted list by Major League Baseball at the behest of the Pirates after his agent, Scott Boras, told the Pirates Alvarez would not sign the contract he had agreed to earlier. Boras stated Alvarez would not report to the team unless they renegotiated the former Commodore's contract and would pay him more than the $6 million signing bonus to which he had originally agreed.

While Boras contends the contract was signed after the Aug. 15 midnight deadline, the Pirates released a statement saying the contract was absolutely valid, had been submitted in a timely fashion and that MLB would "vigorously defend any claim to the contrary."

Alvarez is seen as an important part of the future of the Pirates, who are in desperate need of a powerful bat in their lineup that Alvarez provides. They showed commitment to Alvarez by signing him despite his being a client of Boras, when in the past the franchise would have to pass up Boras' clients due to the agent's notorious demands for higher and unaffordable signing bonuses.

The Pirates expressed little surprise that a higher signing bonus demand had been made with Boras involved, but they expressed discontentment that Alvarez was allowing it to happen.

"Regrettably, we are not surprised that Mr. Boras would attempt to raise a meritless legal claim in an effort to compel us to renegotiate Pedro's contract to one more to his liking," the team said. "We are, however, disappointed that Pedro would allow his agent to pursue this claim on his behalf."

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