Arb, Burnett, Time To Report, Rumors

•  Casey McGehee goes to his arb hearing tomorrow, with Garrett Jones soon to follow (edit: Jones had his hearing today, the results should be out tomorrow). Bill Brink of the Post Gazette has this year's dealings with the Pirates' off-season arb players. Ross Ohlendorf is the only player who hasn't signed with anyone yet; missing most of the past two seasons with injuries has taken the bloom off his rose.
• OK, today's big question is whether AJ Burnett will join the Pirate pitchers when they report Saturday. It seems to come down to the Yankees believing that he's got value anywhere beside Pittsburgh and the Buc FO sticking to their guns. Possible Burney deals for the Indians' Travis Hafner and the Angel's Bobby Abreu are dead in the water, and the two teams are in "stare down" mode. So the Bucs have set their value for Burnett, and if Brian Cashman wants to play hardball, he could wait through camp and see if an opening shakes loose. That would surprise us, as the Yanks have budget issues (go figure) and a hole or two to fill that requires some freed-up salary room. The assumed offer of $10M in salary and two lesser prospects is high enough. Maybe the Bucs could sweeten the money pot, but he's not worth a prime-time youngster with Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon potentially just a couple of years away.
• Greg Johns, who covers Seattle, tweeted that "Chris Gimenez can't sign until Thursday, but sounds like could end up with Pirates after declining an outright assignment to AAA by the Mariners." Gimenez is a utility guy who plays C, 1B and corner OF with a .171/5/21 line in 228 MLB ABs, and might be considered for a minor league depth deal. The murky picture behind C Rod Barajas could make Pittsburgh a tempting landing spot for him.
• The Bucs had a private try-out for former MLB first baseman Dmitri Young. They said nice things about him, and then wished him good luck and sent him on his way according to MLB.com writer Tom Singer.
• Pirate pitchers report Saturday and position players on the 24th. Only 50 days to go until the opener.