Hot Stove, Top 10 Prospects, and House Cleaning...

Notes 'n' News...

• John Perrotto of the Beaver County Times reports (behind a subscription wall) that a source tells him the Pirates are considering making a run at the Cubs' RHP Jeff Samardzija.
• No solid link yet, but there's some web & twitter traction being gained on the Bucs taking a look at the Rays' 1B Logan Morrison.
• From Chris Cotillo ‏of the MLB Daily Dish:  Source: 1B Mark Hamilton, who was with the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox  in 2013, has an offer from the Braves, and strong interest from the Pirates. The 29 year old lefty has a .276 minor league BA and was with the Cards' until last season; he's mostly been used as a DH.
• Jon Morosi of Fox Sports reported a while back that the FO had some interest in extending Neil Walker. This dance has gone on for awhile, and the Pirates have him tied up for three more seasons, so there's no short-term need to ink him, especially with Alen Hanson on the horizon.
• Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don't make. Matt Snyder of CBS Sports ranks Edwin Jackson's (who the Bucs had made a three year offer to in 2012) contract as the second-worst pitching deal in baseball.
• Jim Callis of MLB.com on Gerrit Cole v Jameson Taillon: "Both have frontline-starter stuff, with Cole possessing a little more upside. He throws harder than Taillon, and his slider is more of a wipeout breaking ball than Taillon's curveball. Cole's changeup is better, too."
• Baseball America has a report on the Buccos Top Ten Prospects - with a couple of new names, like Harold Ramirez - and other interesting sidebar stuff.
• John Perrotto of Baseball America has a report on 1B/OF Alex Dickerson.
• Per Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Pirates re-signed minor league FA C Francisco Diaz, 1B/OF Miles Durham and LHP Jhonathan Ramos. Diaz and Ramos provide organizational depth while Durham is a player-coach. They released OF Dan Grovatt, P Lance Breedlove, and C Dylan Child, none of whom had advanced past the A level in the minors.
• The Pirates have named Jeff Branson Hitting Coach and announced Jeff Livesey has joined the staff as a Coach. Branson was Jay Bell's assistant, and Livesey has been the Pirates minor league hitting coordinator for the past three seasons with managing stints at Lynchburg and the GCL.
• Pittsburgh's Frank Coonelly tilted at the Japanese posting windmill and blew up the negotiations for this year. He wanted the money spent on posting to go toward the luxury tax; the big spenders and the union don't. Not hard to figure out who's gonna win that battle, although it is nice to hear a small revenue rep pipe up. 
• Happy B-Day: Jameson Taillon turns 22 today.
• And nope, no news on the AJ front yet.