"He provides us with a legitimate major-league player off the bench ... or if an every-day opportunity pops up," general manager Neal Huntington said.

Vazquez, 32, was in Pittsburgh yesterday for a physical. He was supposed to fly to Puerto Rico in the late afternoon, but the late-day snow squall forced him to delay his return trip.

With his new contract signed and sealed, Vazquez did not mind spending an extra night Downtown.

"The Pirates were interested in me from the beginning, and they put an offer on the table really early," Vazquez said. "This is where I want to be."

Vazquez had a career-best season for the Texas Rangers in 2008, batting .290 with six homers and 40 RBI. He had 300 at-bats the past two seasons, which he thinks helped boost his production.

"It was the first time since 2004 that I had more than 100 at-bats in a season," Vazquez said. "That helped."

In his eight-year career, Vazquez has never appeared in more than 128 games or gotten more than 423 at-bats.

With a career .973 fielding percentage, Vazquez's natural position is shortstop. However, he can play all four infield positions.

A lefty hitter, Vazquez is a good complement to right-handed starters Wilson, second baseman Freddy Sanchez and third baseman Andy LaRoche.

If Wilson is traded - nothing seems imminent, but the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals and Oakland A's have varying levels of interest - Vazquez would step into the starting job at short.

He also is valuable insurance at second, where Sanchez is on the trading block, and third, where LaRoche struggled after joining the team late last season.

"I really haven't talked to the Pirates about playing every day," Vazquez said. "I'm ready whenever and wherever they need me. I'm really comfortable everywhere in the infield."

By signing Vazquez, the Pirates ended their talks with David Eckstein but have not necessarily severed ties with Doug Mientkiewicz. The free agent has expressed a desire to return to Pittsburgh in '09, but the team has not yet made an offer.

"This closes the door on (re-signing) Chris Gomez and Luis Rivas," Huntington said. "But we're still in touch with Doug and Jason (Michaels)."

Yesterday was the deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players. By early evening, seven Pirates players received offers. The Pirates went up to the midnight deadline to decide on pitcher Denny Bautista, and his status was not known as of press time. Any player who is not tendered becomes a free agent.

Bautista was inconsistent after arriving in June via a trade. He went 4-3 with a 6.10 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 28 walks in 35 relief appearances.

Bautista made $395,000 last season and would double that through arbitration - which might not be a good value for the Pirates, who continue to eye several free agents, including a few who were non-tendered yesterday.

If the Pirates non tender Bautista, they would have one vacancy on their 40-man roster.

John Grabow, Adam LaRoche, Tyler Yates, Zach Duke, Nate McLouth, Ryan Doumit and Paul Maholm were tendered.

McLouth, Doumit and Maholm received multi-year offers, as the Pirates hope to lock them up through at least their first year of free-agent eligibility. The other players got one-year deals.

Grabow and LaRoche are in their third and final year of arbitration eligibility. The others are all first-time eligible.

Notes: Expect the Pirates to aggressively pursue right-hander Daniel Cabrera if he is non-tendered by Baltimore. ... Because Vazquez can play third, Neil Walker almost certainly will begin the season at Triple-A. "We're excited about his future, but we aren't comfortable that he's going to be ready to go early in the season," Huntington said. ... Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus noted an interesting stat about Rule 5 draft pickup Donnie Veal. Although the left-hander had a 4.52 ERA last season at Double-A, Veal was dominant against lefty hitters (.216 average, zero homers allowed in 116 at-bats). If the Pirates hold onto Veal, they'll use him in a situational relief role this season with an eye toward getting him back on track as a starter in the long run.