Not sure which is funnier: The comment yesterday from Pirates team president Frank Coonelly about a contract extension for Neil Walker or the fact the media reported on it with a straight face.

In discussing a possible contract extension with Walker, Coonelly said, ``Absolutely that’s a possibility.’’

And here are some other things that are absolutely a possibility:

* This particular article will win the Pulitzer Prize
* The Pirates will win the World Series
* I will win the lottery.
* World peace.

The subject of an extension for Walker has been long discussed. Both sides are all for it. But like all such deals two things have to happen: The price has to be right for the Pirates. The price has to be right for Walker. Needless to say, both sides are widely different versions of what is the right price.

Walker is under team control for three more years. He won’t be eligible for free agency until he’s 31. He’s making $3.3 million this season. If he continues to play as he has, his contract will leap forward through the arbitration process and the Pirates probably will find it in their best interest to tie him up to a long-term deal.

Or trade him.

As for the deal being ``absolutely a possibility,’’ Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com was in Bradenton yesterday and talked to Walker. Here’s what he tweeted:

``Neil Walker told me he doesn’t know of any recent conversations between Pirates and his agent on extension.’’