BRADENTON, Fla. -- One day after signing a multiyear deal that will pay him at least $15.75 million, Bucs outfielder Nate McLouth stood at a podium on Wednesday, a bit reflective on not only what had transpired over the previous 48 hours, but of the more than nine-year journey that had preceded it.

McLouth hasn't forgotten where he came from, the fact that he was just a 25th-round pick in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft and that, despite notable Minor League success for years, the former Pittsburgh management team rarely mentioned his name when identifying potential impact prospects.

But despite the adversity and the inability to get a chance at a starting job until last season, McLouth said there is something special about signing this deal with the team that drafted him out of high school.

"I've been with this organization since I was 18, and now for them to allocate part of these resources to me means a lot," McLouth said. "It would mean a lot to me if it was any team, but it means even more coming from the team that drafted me."

Wednesday's press conference also shed some more light on exactly how this multiyear deal was finalized after being virtually dead for most of the past two months.

McLouth reiterated that when he left Pirate City on Monday to fly out to Phoenix, which is where his arbitration hearing was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, there were no indications that a multiyear deal was even going to be a point of discussion between he and the Pirates in the hours leading up to the hearing.

"I went out to Arizona on Monday not to show them that I would take it to a hearing, but just because I thought it was going to end up in a hearing," McLouth said. "I wasn't planning on doing a multiyear at all. It didn't really cross my mind."

But the Pirates initiated one more discussion about a potential long-term agreement, with president Frank Coonelly meeting with McLouth out in Phoenix. Like McLouth, Coonelly had flown out there Monday in preparation for Tuesday's hearing.

McLouth, who had stayed heavily involved in what Pittsburgh general manager Huntington called "strong negotiations" this offseason, remained deeply involved Monday night and into Tuesday morning, when the deal was finalized.

"That was one of his goals was to keep me involved," said McLouth of his agent Mike Nicotera. "It was important for me to know what they were saying and know where they stood to maybe gauge interest going forward."

And in the end, with Huntington crediting Coonelly for "closing it out in the ninth," the Pirates' early offseason goal of locking down McLouth through his arbitration years was accomplished.

The deal includes a $1.5 million signing bonus for McLouth and salaries of $2 million, $4.5 million and $6.5 million in each of the next three seasons. Those would have been McLouth's three arbitration-eligible seasons. There is also a club option attached that would buy out McLouth's first year of free agency and pay him $10.65 million in 2012. If the Pirates don't exercise that option, they would have to pay the outfielder a $1.25 million buyout.

Various performance bonuses also have the ability to push those salaries a bit higher each subsequent season.

For McLouth, not only did the agreement erase the need for a potentially contentious arbitration hearing, but it also capped off a one-year span in which he went from an outfielder fighting for an everyday job to one of the cornerstones of the organization.

It wasn't until the final week of Spring Training last year that McLouth was handed his first opportunity to be an everyday player. Once he was given the chance, McLouth seized it.

He finished the season with a team-high 26 home runs, 94 RBIs, 23 stolen bases and 46 doubles. He also made his first All-Star Game appearance and captured a Gold Glove.

"I wouldn't be here if they didn't give me the shot in the first place," said McLouth, thanking Huntington and manager John Russell for the opportunity to be the team's starting center fielder. "I was able to take advantage of it last year and have come a long way."

Now, McLouth said, his goal is not only to emulate his '08 success in the next few years, but to make that success permeate elsewhere.

"Tasting that success I did last year makes me just want to have more," McLouth said. "Having the success I had last year was good, but taking that one step further and having team success would be 10 times better."

"It would be great to win a championship, period," he added. "But to win a championship here would be even better with the team that drafted me."