Of Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton’s recent 10 year, $325 million contract extension, Pittsburgh president Frank Coonelly told Trib Live’s Rob Biertempfel that Florida aren’t sweating the details (“they thought it was a great deal,’ Coonelly said. ‘I just couldn’t get my head around the $325 million. They said to me, ‘You don’t understand. (Stanton) has an out clause after six years. Those first six years are only going to cost $107 million. After that, he’ll leave and play for somebody else. So, it’s not really $325 million.'”). 10 year MLB veteran CJ Nitkowski, writing for his Fox-hosted Just A Bit Outside blog, expresses outrage that Coonelly would “completely sell out” such upstanding citizens as Jeffrey Loria and David Samson (links swiped from Baseball Think Factory).

Baseball executives, coaches, players, etc., are always talking. They share ideas, thoughts and opinions and discuss the state of the game in every facet. There is an assumption of trust made among those in the inner circle in these conversations, a trust that is expected to never be betrayed publicly. Somebody apparently forgot to tell Coonelly.

I asked an executive with another club if I was reading too much into this and what he thought about Coonelly’s comments. He told me, “They were not professional and show an integrity flaw.”