"I do not believe for one second that upon learning he had been non-tendered by the Pirates, and thus a free agent, the first words uttered by closer Matt Capps were, ``Free, free at last.''

But I'm betting he was thinking something along those lines.

Capps made the obligatory, ``I love Pittsburgh,'' comments when his contractual situation was in limbo, just as players are told to do by their agents. But he wanted out of here as badly as the rest of them do. No one wants to play for the Pirates.

It would not surprise me a bit if agent Paul Kinzer had a deliberate strategy of making his arbitration

demands for Capps so high that the Pirates, where frugality rules, would issue the non-tender.

Why wouldn't Kinzer do that? Why wouldn't he do everything he could to get his client out of not only the losingest franchise in MLB but one of the most frugal.

Losing is bad. Cheap is bad. Cheap and losing is the worst.

Kinzer reportedly was set to ask for $3.4 million for Capps in arbitration, about a $1 million increase over his 2009 salary. The Pirates were expected to come in at somewhere around $2.7 million. The Pirates' figure was more realistic, but Kinzer's might have won the day in the process where the arbitrator must pick the figure he believes the player most deserves. Compromise is not permitted.

Faced with losing their precious financial flexibility, the Pirates blinked. If they had gone to arbitration at $2.7 million, there was a chance they might lose. If they had gone at $3 million, there was no chance they would have lost. For $300,000 -- in an organization that has gross revenues over $100 million -- the Pirates made themselves a lesser team."