12/22: Teke, Todd, GI, Dewey Signed; HBD Connie & Matty; Bucs Look East; Mazzilli Deal

• 1862 - Cornelius “Connie” Mack was born in East Brookfield, Massachusetts. Mack was a reserve catcher for the Pirates from 1891-96, hitting a modest .242. Mack's last three seasons in the NL were as a player-manager with Pittsburgh from 1894 to 1896, eventually leading to a 50 year gig as manager of the Philadelphia Athletics (1901–1950), where he won five World Series and became a Hall-of-Fame skipper.
• 1938 - CF Matty Alou was born in Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic. Obtained from the Giants for the 1966 season, he became a hitting machine under Harry “The Hat” Walker’s tutelage. In his time in Pittsburgh, he won a batting title and hit .300+ for four straight years. Mateo was traded to the Cards for the 1971 campaign after hitting .327 as a Pirate. Alou is part of the Dominican’s first family of baseball, joining his brothers Felipe and Jesus in the show.

Matty Alou 1967 Topps

• 1982 - OF Lee Mazzilli was traded by the New York Yankees to the Pirates for minor leaguers Don Aubin, John Holland, Jose Rivera and RHP Tim Burke. The key figures were Burke, who had an eight year career as a reliever with 100+ saves, and Mazzilli, who played 3-½ years (1982-85) for Pittsburgh, playing outfield and first base while putting up a .244 Bucco BA.
• 1983 - Free agent RHP Kent Tekulve re-signed with the Pirates for three years/$900K per season. In 1983, Teke had 18 saves and a 1.64 ERA for Pittsburgh. The inking was a big deal for the Bucs; Telkulve had been a bullpen fixture since 1975 in Pittsburgh, and the Pirates had to fend off the deep pockets of California Angel owner Gene Autry to seal the deal. Teke picked a good year to hit the market; after the Yankee’s Goose Gossage, he was the top reliever available.
• 1998 - RHP Todd Ritchie signed as a free agent with the Pirates. Ritchie won a career-high 15 games in 1999, and was the Pirates’ Opening Day starter in 2001. In his three Pirate seasons, he went 35-32/4.29 for the Bucs before he was dealt to the White Sox for Kip Wells, Josh Fogg and Sean Lowe after the 2001 campaign.

Todd Ritchie 2000 Upper Deck Victory

• 2008 - C Ryan Doumit signed a three year, $11.5M extension that bought out his arbitration years, with a team option for 2012/13 worth $15.5M. Doumit hit .271 during his time as a Pirate, but he was often injured and not very strong defensively. The Pirates didn’t pick up the option seasons, and Dewey signed with Minnesota in 2012.
• 2008 - The Bucs signed FA 1B/OF Garrett Jones to a minor-league deal. He was on the big club by mid-year and never looked back. He sprinted from the gates, becoming the first Buc to hit seven home runs in his first twelve games since Dino Restelli in 1949 and finished with flair when in 2013 he became the second player and first Pirate to hit a home run out of PNC Park and into the Allegheny River on the fly. The big lefty hit .256 with 100 HR/325 RBI in his five Pittsburgh seasons before signing with the Marlins in 2013.
• 2014 - The Nexen Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization accepted the Pirates’ posting offer of $5,002,015 in exchange for negotiating rights for SS Jung-Ho Kang, a five-time KBO All-Star and the league’s 2014 MVP after a .356/40/117 slash. The Bucs had a 30-day window to sign him. Asian free-agency was a new market for Pittsburgh; it was the first time the Pirates had ever won a bid for an international player thru the posting system. He was officially inked to a deal three weeks later.

Notes: Vogelsong, Arroyo, Players on the Move...

The shakin' and bakin' this weekend:

•  The Pirates signed RHP Ryan Vogelsong to a one year/$2M deal with $3M more available in incentives. Apparently with a wave of young guys due up next year, they see no reason to commit to multi-year deals required to land a mid-tier arm, so this looks like a transitional season for the staff. Can't debate that the FO has a decent eye for pitchers, though Vogelsong's 45% ground ball rate last year was good but not extreme, so we'll see how this one works out in the short term. It's likely that he's a placeholder for Tyler Glasnow and could go to the pen, where he spent some time last year, tho not too successfully (5.68 ERA/19IP). 

Everything old is new again - 2002 Upper Deck

• Jayson Stark said the Pirates have inquired about Bronson Arroyo. Must be homecoming week.  Not sure if the interest was before or after the Vogelsong deal.
• IF prospect Adam Frazier gets an invite to Spring Training. His slash was .324/.384/.416 for Altoona this season, per John Dreker of Pirates Prospects. Frazier followed up with a big winter, moving up from the Arizona Fall League to play for Team USA.
• Well, that was quick. RHP Allen Webster, who the Bucs recently acquired, was released to allow him to jump to Korea, where the Samsung Lions inked him for $850K. The Lions also signed reliever Collin Balester, who tossed for Altoona and Indy from 2014-15, to a $500K deal.
• 2015 Altoona C Sebastian Valle, who declared for MiLB free agency, signed a deal with the Yankees with a camp invite. Fair is fair; Pittsburgh has taken more than its share of NY catchers.
• The Indians signed LHP Tom Gorzelanny to a MiLB deal with a camp invite.
• RHP Tim Alderson, who the Pirates received from the Giants for Freddie Sanchez in 2009, signed a minor league contract with the Nationals. 
• OF Rajai Davis, who was part of the straw that finally broke Dave Littlefield's back when he was traded to the Giants for bust Matt Morris in 2007, signed a one year deal with the Indians.
• The Pirates placed well in Sports on Earth's Organization Report Cards.
• Geez! It's not enough that the players and field/office staff are getting raided; now Boston is after Tim Neverett, a New England native son, per the Boston Herald. The job is radio only; as of now, Tim is in the "considering it" phase.
• ESPN announced that Cards-Bucco game on June 12th at PNC Park was chosen for the opener of a Sunday Night Baseball doubleheader.

12/21: B-Days - Josh Gibson, AVS, Freddy Sanchez, Bugs, Danny & John; Gino, Frankie Deals

• 1911 - Hall of Fame catcher Josh Gibson was born in Buena Vista, Georgia. Considered the top HR hitter (the “Black Babe Ruth”) of the Negro Leagues, he played for the Grays and Crawfords. Gibson was the second ballplayer, behind Satchel Paige, to be elected to the Hall of Fame because of their exceptional Negro League careers.
• 1920 - LHP Bill Werle was born in Oakland, California. Werle was known as “Bugs” because he was an amateur entomologist (a bug collector). He spent from 1949-1952 with the Bucs, going 29-39-15 and working everything from starts to closing. Bugs got into some hot water with the Bucco suits in 1952, coming in late one night, was fined, suspended, and traded soon thereafter.
• 1930 - C Danny Kravitz was born in Lopez, near Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The reserve catcher played five years (1956-60) for Pittsburgh, hitting .236, but missed out on the ‘60 Series when he was traded in June to KC for Hank Foiles. His first homer was memorable: it happened on May 11, 1956 in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and the Pirates trailing the Phillies 5-2, and his walk-off grand slam gave the Pirates a 6-5 win.

Danny Kravitz 1957 Topps

• December 21, 1959 - Deals made and not made: After Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh rejected the A's offer to deal Roger Maris for SS Dick Groat earlier in the month, Pittsburgh obtained OF Gino Cimoli along with RHP Tom Cheney from the Cardinals for RHP Ron Kline. Maris, who was dealt to the Yankees, had the first of his two consecutive MVP years in New York, while Groat played a key role for the World Champion Bucs the next season and was named the NL MVP.
• 1960 - OF Andy Van Slyke was born in Utica, NY. AVS played eight years (1987-94) for the Bucs, hitting .283, earning three All-Star spots while winning five Golden Gloves and two Silver Sluggers during his stay. He was a mainstay of the Jimmy Leyland teams of the early nineties after coming over from the Cards in the Tony Pena deal.
• 1970 - RHP John Hope was born in Fort Lauderdale. The high schooler was a second round draft pick in 1989, signing for an $85K bonus, but never panned out. He went through elbow and shoulder surgery, and in part of four seasons (1993-96) with the Pirates, the righty went 1-5 with a 5.99 ERA.

John Hope 1994 Fleer

• 1977 - 2B Freddy Sanchez was born in Hollywood. In six years (2004-09) as a Pirate, he hit .301, winning the batting crown in 2006 with a .344 BA and appearing in three All-Star games. It was a dark day in the City when fan favorite Steady Freddy was traded to the Giants, where injuries derailed his career. He hit .292 for the G-Men in the 2010 World Series season, but shoulder and back surgeries followed in 2011-12.
• 2012 - LHP Francisco Liriano reached an agreement to sign with the Bucs, pending his physical. He broke his right arm over the holidays, but he and and the Pirates worked out an alternate deal that was worth $7M over two years. The Cisco Kid won 16 games in 2013 and was the “Comeback Player of the Year.” After the 2014 season, he returned after testing the free agent market, inking a three year contract worth $39M.

12/20: HBD Jimmy, Branch, Spud & Jose; Holiday Dealing

• 1876 - 2B Jimmy Williams was born. He only played two years in Pittsburgh, but made quite a splash. In his first year, 1899, Williams hit in 27 straight games, setting an MLB rookie record that wasn’t broken until 1987, and one that’s still a Pirates team standard. His 27 triples are also an MLB rookie record, and he ended the campaign with a .354 BA. But the next year he returned to reality, hitting .264, and then jumped leagues in 1901, joining the AL Baltimore Orioles and opening the door for Tommy Leach to take control of the hot corner.

Jimmy Williams - 1900 team photo

• 1881 - Branch Rickey was born in Stockdale, Ohio. An innovator of things as diverse as the breaking the color line, a feeder minor league system and batting helmets, Rickey was the Pirate GM from 1950-55. His Pittsburgh teams were notoriously poor (“The Rickey-Dinks”), but his player development pipeline helped to form the core of the 1960 World Championship club.
• 1904 - The Pirates traded 1B Kitty Bransfield, IF Otto Krueger and OF Moose McCormick to the Phillies for 1B Del Howard. In his first MLB season, Howard hit .292 for the Pirates and was included in the deal for P Vic Willis the following year. Kitty, a member of the Pirates first World Series club, stayed on for seven campaigns in Philadelphia, with a .269 BA. Moose, one of baseball’s earliest players to fill a pinch-hitter’s role, didn’t play again until 1908 after leaving the game to become, of all things, a salesman. Krueger hung around for one more year before leaving baseball.
• 1904 - C Virgil “Spud” Davis (his uncle gave him the nickname as a youth because Virgil loved potatoes) was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He spent his last four seasons (1940-41, 1944-45) as a back-up catcher who hit .301 as a Bucco. From 1943-44 he coached before returning for a couple of seasons during the war years. He continued as a coach and a scout for the Pirates and briefly managed the team when manager Frankie Frisch resigned in September of 1946. Spud left baseball for good in 1950. Davis hit over .300 ten times in sixteen MLB seasons, and as of his retirement, his .308 career BA was second only to Mickey Cochrane all-time among major league catchers. At last look, it’s still in the Top Five.

Spud Davis - 1940 Play Ball

• 1960 - RHP Jose DeLeon was born in Rancho Viejo, Dominican Republic. After being taken in the third round of the 1979 draft, he reached Pittsburgh in 1983. He went 17-38 with a 4.02 ERA as a Buc before being traded to the White Sox in 1986. DeLeon lasted 13 seasons in the MLB, but never matched his promise with his performance.
• 1984 - SS Tim Foli, OF Steve Kemp and cash were sent by the NY Yankees to the Pirates in exchange for SS Dale Berra, OF Jay Buhner and LHP Alfonso Pulido. Buhner went on to have a 15 year career with 310 homers, mostly with Seattle, while not much else was gotten out of the other guys involved in the deal.
• 2001 - In a minor deal, the Bucs sent RHP Jose Silva (one day after his birthday) to the Reds for minor league RHP Ben Shaffar. Silva pitched one more year in the big leagues while Shaffar never made it to the show.

Jose Silva - 2001 Topps

• 2002 - RHP Chris Young and minor leaguer Jon Searles were traded to the Montreal Expos for RHP Matt Herges. The 6’10” Young, a third round pick of the Bucs in 2000, went on to win 32 games between 2005-07 and landed an All-Star berth before injuries threw a series of speedbumps at his career, while the Pirates cut Herges in spring training.

12/19: HBD Tommy & Jose; Bucs Sign Amos Otis & Corey Most; Biggest Flop of the Year

• 1918 - OF/3B Tommy O’Brien was born in Anniston, Alabama. O’Brien was a three-time All State football player and enrolled at the University of Tennessee, but opted for baseball. He started his MLB career as a Pirate, hitting .301 between 1942-45, toiled in the minors from 1946-48 and returned to the show in 1949-50 with Boston and Washington. His claim to fame came in 1943 when he had seven consecutive hits in a double header against the NY Giants.

Tommy O'Brien 1943 (photo via Out Of the Park Developments)

• 1938 - In a poll of writers by the Associated Press, the Pirates were selected as the biggest disappointment in sports for the year, edging out the Rice Owls football team. The Pirates had a seven game edge on September 1 and were up 3-½ games after September 22nd, but dropped six of their final seven games to finish the season two games behind the Cubs after losing the famous “homer in the gloaming” game. The Bucs went 28-26 in the final two months of the season while the Cubs rampaged through September, winning 21 of their last 26 games.
• 1973 - RHP Jose Silva was born in Tijuana, Mexico. Jose worked five years (1997-2001) for the Bucs, starting 53 of his 140 Pirate games. He finished 25-28-4 with a 5.41 ERA in his Pittsburgh years. He worked one more MLB campaign, and moved on to the Mexican League.
• 1983 - The Pirates signed 37 year old OF Amos Otis. A five-time All-Star with the Kansas City Royals, Otis hit .165 in 40 games for the Bucs. He was released in August and never played in the majors again. Ironically, the Royals had agreed to a deal sending him and Cookie Rojas to the Pirates for Al Oliver after the 1976 season, but Rojas voided the transaction by exercising his 10-and-5 year veto rights; Pittsburgh was that close to landing Otis in his heyday.

Amos Otis 1984 Topps

• 2014 - The Pirates signed free agent 1B/OF Corey Hart to a one year, $2.5M contract with another $2.5M available in bonuses based on at-bats. Hart had microfracture knee surgery in 2013, missing that year, and hit just .203 with Seattle in 2014, but prior to that was a career .271 hitter and two-time All-Star playing for Milwaukee, swatting 30 homers twice. Hart got just 57 at bats with the Bucs before his knees gave out again, and he’s a free agent this season.

12/18: HBD Jack & Gino; Bucs Sign Lopez, Stairs, Schourek, Herrera; Neverett Hired

• 1915 - OF Jack Barrett was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. He played from 1942-46 and hit .251. His best seasons were 1944-45, when he stole 53 bases (he led the NL in steals in 1944 with 28) and scored 196 runs. But when WW2 ended and the players returned, Barrett’s career came to an end; he hit .193 in 1946, his last big league campaign.
• 1929 - OF Gino Cimoli was born in San Francisco. He only played a season and some change (1960-61) for the Bucs, but was their fourth outfielder for the 1960 Series champs, hitting .267 as a Pirate and .250 in the series. He scored the first tally in Pittsburgh’s five-run eighth inning in the deciding game seven and started several games in place of the injured Bob Skinner. He was one of Bob Prince’s favorites - every time Cimoli came through on the field, The Gunner would say “Thatsa my boy, Gino!”

Gino Beats the Rap - 1961 Topps World Series set

• 1998 - LHP Pete Schourek signed a two-year/$4M FA contract with the Pirates. After going 4-7 with a 5.34 ERA, he was released after a season, with the Pirates eating the second year of his contract. He was the Cy Young runner-up to Greg Maddux in 1995 after going 18-7 for the Reds, but various injuries limited his effectiveness. He pitched through 2001, but he never won more than eight games after that breakout ‘95 season.
• 2002 - Utilityman Matt Stairs signed as a FA the Pirates, accepting a $900K deal. He had a strong season, hitting .292 with 20 HR despite just 305 AB, earning himself a three year/$3.55M contract with KC the following campaign. He retired after the 2011 season and joined another ex-Buc in the record books: Stairs played for more major-league teams (12) than any position player in big league history (technically, he was rostered on 13 teams but for just 12 franchises, as he played for the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals). Octavio Dotel holds the record for pitchers and all players at 13 clubs.
• 2006 - Cuban RHP Yoslan Herrera, 25, agreed to a $1.92M, three-year contract with the Pirates. He defected in July of 2005 and was signed by scouts Rene Gayo and Louie Eljaua after posting a combined record of 18-7 with a 3.27 ERA during his Island career as a member of the Youth Cuban National Team for two years (1999-2000) and four seasons with the big boy Cuban National Team (2001-2004). His numbers didn’t translate in the US, and he won just one game for the Bucs. In a nice bounce-back tale, Herrera was signed to a minor league deal by the LA Angels in 2013 after last pitching in the majors in 2008, put together a nice run at the end of 2014 (1-1, 2.70 -16IP), then moved across the Pacific to toss in the Nippon League in 2015.

Yoslan Herrera (photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

• 2008 - Tim Neverett was hired as the Pirate play-by-play man. Prior to joining the Pirates, Neverett spent four years working for FSN Rocky Mountain, where he spent the 2008 campaign serving as both the pre and post-game studio host for Colorado Rockies games along with calling many other sports. Neverett began his baseball on-air career in 1985 at the age of 19 with Pittsburgh's Class AA affiliate in the Eastern League, the Nashua Pirates.
• 2009 - The Pirates signed LHP Javier Lopez to a one year, $775K contract. The LOOGY reestablished his credentials in Pittsburgh and then was traded to the Giants at the deadline. The southpaw is the only active player to have played on four or more World Series championship teams, winning three times with the G-Men and once with Boston.

Trade Analysis: Rogers for Broxton/Supak

The Bucs dipped into the minor league depth tonight and pulled off a trade of players around the fringes, reeling in corner player Jason Rogers from the Brewers for OF Keon Broxton and RHP Trey Supak.

Rogers is not a gifted (or for that matter, even good) defensive player, but he can line up at first, third or a corner OF spot. He was brought in as an offensive piece of the bench, and could serve as a hot corner insurance policy if Jung Ho Kang isn't up to speed early in the season. His MLB slash in 191 PAs is .286/.358/.429, with acceptable K and BB numbers. He also has shown a reverse split in the show, making him useful as a pinch hitter and a possible platoon partner for Michael Morse in a quickly shrinking first base market. (We'll have his bio/report up later).

Jason Rogers (photo Scott Kane/USA Today)

In exchange, the Brewers brought in Broxton and Supak. The deal suits both clubs. The Pirates were looking for a productive bench bat and the Brewers are looking for young guys as they rebuild.

Broxton, approaching his age 26 season, is a raw but athletic outfielder with speed to burn.  He had good credentials, being a third round pick of Arizona in 2009 and making appearances in their Top 30 Prospect list. During 2015, Keon had a decent minor league slash of .273/.357/.438 with 39 stolen bases between Altoona and Indy, earning a late September call up, mainly as a pinch runner.

He struggles at the plate, but his outfield defense is major league and he's a plus runner. The Brewers put him on their 40-man roster and said he has a shot at breaking camp with them as a fourth outfielder, which seems to be his projection as a big leaguer. The Bucco system is awash in outfield prospects, and so it's no surprise that one of them was finally dealt; he won't be the last. Broxton is a work in progress; reading major league pitchers on the bases and handling off speed stuff at the plate are two weaknesses that were apparent in his brief Bucco stint.

Keon Broxton (photo via MLB.com)

Supak, 19, was drafted out of high school in the 2014 sandwich round and signed to a $1M bonus. MLB.com rated him as the Pirates #15 prospect, and his development is probably the key to the deal. He's a big kid - 6'5" - with a flat low 90s heater, a curve that's sometimes on, sometimes off and a changeup that lags behind the other two pitches.

In two seasons at Bradenton in the GCL, he went 2-5/6.02, not a very promising jump out of the gate with time missed last year. But the Pirate MO is to pound the fastball first with their developing pitchers, so it may be that focusing a downhill angle for his heater explains his struggles with the breaking stuff. The teen has just 52-1/3 MiLB frames under his belt, and he has to be considered raw rather than a wash out at this point of his career. The Brewers are betting on a little patience and a lot of growth from Supak, who still projects as an eventual MLB starter.

Trey Supak (photo Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)

So the deal works for both sides. The Pirates deepened their bench with a bat that can handle, in a small sample, pitching from either side. He can also allow Josh to play second in April (caveat emptor: Rogers played one NL game at third last year, tho he has extensive MiLB work there) and then slide over to give Morse a blow until Josh Bell figures out how to work his 1B mitt. It's a short term move to try to keep them competitive in a dog-eat-dog division. For Milwaukee, which like the Reds are in full-blown rebuild mode, it adds a couple of guys that could pan out in the future as they stock up on youth.

It also fits into farm philosophies. The Pirates don't seem to be terribly patient with guys like Supak (or Rob Grossman, JaCoby Jones, etc.), preferring some production attached to potential, while the Brewers are willing to roll the dice on young guys growing up eventually. Last year, if you recall, they swapped A-Ram for Yhonathan Barrios, 23, and after a terrible campaign at Indy, he made the show at Milwaukee and put up 6-2/3 scoreless frames in his September cup of coffee with seven whiffs. Small sample again, but the Brewers are looking for potential. The Pirates are looking for pennants.

Notes: S-Rod Returns, Signings, Moves & Random Stuff...

What went down this week:

• Jerry Crasnick reports that S-Rod had a small bidding war going on, but he came home to the Bucs, signing a one year/$2.5M deal. We'd expect to see more of him in the infield this year instead of first, taking over the Josh Harrison role he was originally brought in to fill.

Sean Rodriguez (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

• So far, Antonio Bastardo & Joe Blanton seem to have flown below the radar. Tony Sipp's three year/$18M deal has given Bastardo more leverage on the market now and he has at least Detroit & the Cubs sniffin' around, while the only team we've heard associated with Blanton is Toronto. Our guess is that both are out of Pittsburgh's cost comfort zone. 
• Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times wrote "The Pirates and Brewers, who both have had prior interest, could be a fit for a trade of 1B James Loney."
• Michael Morse told Adam Berry of MLB.com that a change in clubhouses drove his improved, albeit in a small sample, performance in Pittsburgh.
• NH was interviewed on MLB Network Radio and said that not only Tyler Glasnow but Jameson Taillon could be in Pittsburgh by midseason. He added that "...as we sit here now, we expect to have Mark Melancon and Tony Watson at the back end of the bullpen." He did toss in a qualifier, saying that he will listen to offers for The Shark but "we're gonna have to get something that really makes sense to even consider moving him."
• Tho he missed two campaigns on the hill, Taillon told Bill Brink of the Post Gazette that he feels like he's actually improved his game during the down time. 
• Enos Sarris of Fangraphs considers the Pirate options at first base.
• WBOY's Anjelica Trinone talks to OF Keon Broxton and gets a couple of takes on the youngster from Rick Sofield. 
• Sad news to report: John Holdzkom's brother Lincoln was killed over the weekend in a car wreck. Lincoln bumped around in the minors as a pitcher, suiting up for Altoona in 2009.
• Pittsburgh signed veteran MiLB OF'er Antoan Richardson, 32, to a minor league deal. It's an interesting move. The Bahamas-born and Florida-raised switch-hitter is a classic leadoff hitter, putting the ball in play and drawing walks, with plenty of speed and a good defensive rep. He's shown well in a couple of cups of coffee in the show, but missed most of 2015 with back surgery. Maybe he's Indy's top-of-the-order guy, even tho the Bucs' pipeline is flowing with outfielders moving up.
• Fangraphs has the 2016 ZiPS numbers out for the Bucs.What those figures project pretty well match up with the smell test.
• John Perrotto for Baseball America wrote (behind a subscription wall) that the Bucs feel no pressure to rush Austin Meadows. 
• Altoona 1B Jose Osuna has been suspended six games for his part in a bench-clearing brawl with Bruce Rondon during a Venezuela Winter League game.
• Joey Cora will replace Tom Prince as Altoona's manager. Prince has been reassigned as a minor league field coordinator, and will instruct & evaluate all the minor league managers, coaches and staff; that was at one time Jeff Banister's job. All the other MiLB skippers for the Buc clubs will return.
• Neil Walker will wear his dad Tom's former #20 with the Mets; he couldn't claim it here because it had been Pie Traynor's number and was retired in 1972. 
• 1B/OF Garrett Jones has inked a one-year/$2.5M contract to play with the Yomiuri Giants of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, according to NPB Tracker’s Patrick Newman. (Jon Heyman of CBS has his salary a bit higher at $2.8M plus bonuses).
• So much for the Trevor Cahill speculation; he signed up for another stint with the Cubbies. He was inked to a one year/$4.25M deal.
• Ditto for 1B Mike Napoli, who has signed a one year deal with the Indians for $7M with an additional $3M dangled as incentives. He was probably never much more than an afterthought at best; the Bucs are looking for a LH hitter to platoon w/Michael Morse, and Napoli is a righty. The same holds true for Mark Reynolds, who signed a one year deal with the Rox. 
• Korean OF/1B Hyun-Soo Kim, 27, who the Bucs were said to have some interest in, signed with Baltimore for two years/$7M pending his physical.
• OF Alex Presley signed a minor league deal w/camp invite with the Brewers. 
• LHP Dana Eveland, who tossed for the Bucs in 2010, has joined Tampa Bay on a minor league deal with a camp invite
• For the baseball historians out there: Cut Four has a piece on the evolution of the stirrup/sock, with Cutch's design at the top of the stocking chain.

12/17: HBD Rebel & Marvell; Kevin Correia Signs

• 1883 - CF Ennis “Rebel” Oakes was born in Lisbon, Louisiana. He played five years for the Reds and Cards, then jumped to the Federal League when it was established in 1914. After two seasons as the player-manager for the Pittsburgh Rebels, perhaps named in his honor, the league folded and Oakes never returned to MLB despite his .295 BA. SABR writer Phil Williams believes “Rebel Oakes was effectively blacklisted” after the Federal League’s demise. Btw, he didn’t earn his nickname by being particularly iconoclastic; when he was in the minors, an Iowa sportswriter dubbed him Rebel because of his Deep South birthplace.

Rebel Oakes 1915 Cracker Jacks

• 1959 - CF Marvell Wynne was born in Chicago. He started his career with the Pirates, playing from 1983-85. Projected as a leadoff hitter, he stole 46 sacks but batted just .245 with an OBP of .297 before being traded to San Diego for Bob Patterson. Marvell’s last season was 1991, playing in Japan. His son, also named Marvell, became a pro jock, too, but as a MSL soccer player.
• 2010 - RHP Kevin Correia signed as a FA with Pittsburgh, agreeing to a two year, $8M deal. In those two seasons, he would post a line of 24-22/4.49 before joining the Twins after losing his spot in the rotation to Wandy Rodriguez. He started 54 games, appeared 59 times, represented the Pirates at the 2011 All-Star Game and was their Opening Day pitcher that same season.

12/16: HBD Rick Sofield; Ray Mueller, Bobby Schantz, Benito Santiago Deals

• 1938 - The Boston Bees traded catcher Ray Mueller to the Pirates for C Al Todd and OF Johnny Dickshot. Todd had a couple of good seasons left, while Dickshot wouldn’t hit his prime until his last two seasons in 1944-45 during the war for the White Sox. “Iron Man” Mueller (he picked up his nickname in the early forties after catching 233 consecutive games for the Reds) played 90 games in Pittsburgh as a reserve catcher, hitting .269. Factoid: Mueller was from Pittsburg - Pittsburg, Kansas, which was named after our fair town.
• 1956 - Coach Rick Sofield was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He was a #1 draft pick and outfielder for the Twins, worked in the minors (he was the Pirates' minor league field coordinator in 2002) and managed in college. Sofield was brought back to the Pirate fold by long-time bud Clint Hurdle, managing at West Virginia for a season before joining the big league staff in 2013.

Rick Sofield in his prospect days 1979 Topps

• 1960 - The Bucs sent UT Harry Bright, 1B RC Stevens and RHP Bennie Daniels to the expansion Washington Senators (now the Texas Rangers) for veteran LHP Bobby Shantz. Daniels was a useful starter in DC for several seasons, while Shantz lasted a year in Pittsburgh before being lost to the Houston Colt .45s in the 1961 expansion draft. He went 6-3-2/3.22 in 43 games with the Pirates, and pitched fairly effectively afterward, his career lasting until the end of the 1964 season. Schantz won 24 games in 1952 as a starter for the Philadelphia Athletics and was voted the AL MVP, but arm injuries drove him from the rotation to the bullpen.
• 2004 - The Pirates acquired C Benito Santiago and cash from the Royals for RHP Leo Nunez (Juan Oviedo). The 30 year old Oviedo served a 2012 suspension after pitching for seven seasons because of name fraud; he went by Nunez to make it appear he was younger. Santiago, 40, got in six games before his release and never played in the majors again.