There is a lot of talk out there. Are you assuming that Army drew line in sand on NMC or bonuses? Strick says that ain't true. Petro didn't allege it. Sounds like we offered 8 x 8 but Petro and Newport want more. That is huge money in flat cap era. What would you have us do? Can't just give him blank check, particularly when last few years of an 8-year extension likely to be brutal.
I feel like if the number is the only sticking point, then this would be done already...or at the very least, there wouldn't be the sort of impasse that we're getting the feeling that there is. There's clearly
some sort of line in the sand right now, whatever it might be.
If that's just posturing from the negotiators involved and there's no real line in the sand, which I tend to doubt, then it's stupid. It's clearly alienating, or at least bewildering, someone that clearly expected negotiation process to be a lot less contentious. If you're just going to cave/compromise eventually, then cut the BS and preserve the good will in the relationship (not to mention with the rest of the team, and the fans, etc.).
I've already said that I'd just hand Pietrangelo whatever number he thinks is fair if given assurances the he's here for good. He isn't being mean spirited about it, but he has the team over a barrel. They need him far more than he needs them, and what's more he's earned it (and then some). There's no one else like him on the market. The only real leverage the Blues have is guilt ("You're throwing away your legacy!"; "Do you really want to uproot your family?"; "Do you really want to walk away from everything we've created together?"; "If you really want to be here, you'll accept this offer because what you want is something that we just can't do."), because
someone will give him a contract that makes him happy. The Blues
need him to have any real hope of fielding a viable contender next year...and probably for multiple years after that, barring a miracle.
As an aside, leveraging Pietrangelo's desire to be here against him to try to get him to make concessions that he shouldn't have to make is a hostile tactic, but it's really the only card that Armtrong has to play, and I get the feeling that he's playing it...and I think it's making a huge mess out of everything. Using someone's good will as a weapon against them in an attempt to give up something that they're rightfully earned is a pretty ***** thing to do. You don't do something like that to someone that you value and respect, and that you want to continue to have around. Or you shouldn't, at least, if you have any sense at all. You are actively poisoning your own well by using the good will that others have for you against them in such an obviously self-serving way.
Anyway, we know there's nothing beyond their control that is preventing the Blues from making it work. Pietrangelo wants (or at least wanted) to be here. The Blues can make the numbers work. Any other stumbling blocks are completely self-imposed or arbitrary. They just need to suck it up and
do it. You make room for him however you need to, enjoy whatever productive years he can give you, hopefully cash in with a few more deep playoff runs, then deal with whatever fallout there is (if any) down the road. Not getting something done because you're worried years 6-8 *might* be a burden for the franchise, thus virtually guaranteeing a massive burden for the franchise immediately, is cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Even if the last few years are a burden, you're still getting *some* benefit those years because a guy who would likely be getting his number retired by the Blues in that scenario will retire as a career Blue. People can forgive a few lean years if there is nostalgia to sustain them, and that's the sort of story that drips nostalgia. St. Louis fans would eat that up. They love loyalty and home town heroes (he might not have been born here, but Pietrangelo married into the community). That sort of story has real, tangible, value to the Blues organization.
