Originally Posted by ESPN

The Pittsburgh Pirates' signing of Pedro Alvarez, the No. 2 pick in the baseball's amateur draft, may be in jeopardy.

The Pirates on Wednesday announced that at the team's request, Major League Baseball has placed Alvarez on the restricted list because Alvarez's agent, Scott Boras, informed the team that Alvarez would not sign the contract and wants it renegotiated.

In a related development, the case has been forwarded to the players' association, which plans to file a grievance against Major League Baseball, claiming that the Alvarez contract was approved in violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The union claims that Alvarez agreed to his contract after the Aug. 15 midnight deadline. It's possible for clubs to receive an extension in negotiations, but only with the players' association approval.

The team, in a prepared statement, said it was informed by Boras that Alvarez, a highly-touted third baseman who played at Vanderbilt, would not report to the team until the team renegotiated his contract and agreed to pay him more than the $6 million signing bonus to which he agreed.

Boras also claimed that the contract was agreed to after the deadline, the team said.

"This claim was not raised on the evening of the 15th when we informed Mr. Boras that Major League Baseball had confirmed that the contract was submitted in a timely fashion," the team said. "Mr. Boras asserted this claim several days later, after all of the draft signings had become publicized."

"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. "

Boras, reached by ESPN.com, said the matter was a dispute between Major League Baseball and the players' association.

"Pedro Alvarez never received a contract from the Pittsburgh Pirates," Boras told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick. "We're awaiting the determination of a grievance filed by the union against the commissioner's office."

The team also said it had been assured by the commissioner's office that it's contract with Alvarez is a valid, and that MLB "will vigorously defend any claim to the contrary."

The Pirates bypassed Boras clients previously because they were unwilling to meet his demands for signing bonuses over the slotting system designed when Pirates president Frank Coonelly was a labor lawyer for MLB.

Once Coonelly accepted the Pirates job, he and general manager Neal Huntington said the team would not be scared off by Boras-represented clients and would draft players based on their ability, not their agent.

The signing of Alvarez has been seen as crucial to the future of the Pirates, who are headed for their 16th consecutive losing season. The team's previous management had been criticized for lackluster scouting and drafting, and the signing of Alvarez offered the new management team a chance to break from that history.