--INF Ramon Vazquez signed a two-year, $4 million deal after passing a physical examination. Vazquez, 32, hit .290 with six home runs and 40 RBIs in 105 games with Texas last season, playing 70 games at third base, 26 at shortstop, 11 at second base and one at first base.
--RHP Denny Bautista was the Pirates' only arbitration-eligible player who was non-tendered at the Dec. 12 deadline. Bautista went 4-3 with a 6.10 ERA in 35 games for Pittsburgh this year. --RHP Jason Davis and C Raul Chavez were outrighted off the 40-man roster and became free agents as the Pirates opted not to go to arbitration with them. Davis, 28, was 2-4 with a 5.29 ERA in 14 games, four starts, last season and is pursuing opportunities in Japan. Chavez, 35, hit .259 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 42 games.
--LHP Daniel Haigwood and RHP Brian Slocum were signed as minor league free agents and invited to major league spring training. Haigwood, 25, was 2-3 with one save and a 3.36 ERA in 38 games, three starts, for Boston's Class AA Trenton club last season. Slocum, 27, was 3-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 30 games, 11 starts, for Cleveland's Class AAA Buffalo affiliate.
--LHP Kyle Bloom was selected by Detroit in the Rule 5 draft after going 5-8 with a 4.19 ERA in 28 games, 22 starts, for Class AA Altoona last season. Bloom, 25, must stay in the major leagues with the Tigers throughout all of the 2009 season or be offered back to the Pirates for $25,000.
--The Pirates will play 35 exhibition games next spring, hosting World Series champion Philadelphia in their Grapefruit League opener on Feb. 25 in Bradenton, Fla.
BY THE NUMBERS: .310 -- Batting average for C Ronny Paulino in 2006, a figure that dropped to .263 in 2007 and .212 in 2008 before he was traded to Philadelphia for minor league C Jason Jaramillo.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The talent is in there, but we just couldn't seem to unlock it anymore." -- GM Neal Huntington, on Paulino.
