Off Day Movement

We speculated on a couple of moves last night, and here's what the Bucs are up to today:

• RHP Jason Grilli was indeed signed and is now in Pittsburgh.
• Josh Harrison and Pedro Ciriaco were sent down. In the case of demotions, the sooner the better. That way, the ten day minimum-stay clock starts ticking a little more quickly if you want to bring them back for a non-injury reason. The smart money is on Ronny Cedeno and Steve Pearce being added to the roster tomorrow.
• Pedro Alvarez isn't expected back until after the St. Louis series at the soonest. Jim Callis of Baseball America has El Toro's back: "(I)...still believe in him. The elite college hitters almost always pan out. I've been surprised by how much he has struck out as a pro, but I still see him becoming at least a .275/25 HR guy, if not more. Do see him as more of a first baseman than a third baseman though."
• Kinda surprisingly, no reliever was optioned; many thought Chris Leroux would be the guy to go upon Grilli's arrival. We can't think of a reason for the delay since one has to clear out, unless there is either some internal debate over who goes or a deal in the works involving bullpen arms.
• Evan Meek was flipped from the 15 day DL to the 60 day. It won't delay his return date. He's been on the DL since June 8th, which makes August 7th the earliest date that he can play, and there's virtually no chance he'll be ready by then.
• Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted that "The Pirates have talked internally about pursuing David DeJesus, but it's unclear whether they will follow up aggressively with Oakland." He's hitting .229/5/29; we're not really sure what there is to discuss. Geez, the A's hit worse than the Pirates.
• Another player on the road back is Ryan Doumit, who is beginning his rehab with Bradenton. Jason Jaramillo was just reinstated to the Indy roster too, so the catchers are beginning to find their way back home.
• And for today's dose of national media love we have Joe Sheehan of Sports Illustrated, who wrote a Bucco article for "Inside Baseball" that starts off "They're not going away..."