The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 24-year old righty swinging infielder Pedro Lopez and 28-year old switch hitting SS Anderson Machado to minor league deals. Lopez played in 104 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 80 for 339 (.236 avg, .601 OPS) with 38 runs scored, 2 homers, 27 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has also played in 16 games in his major league career in which he is 10 for 52 (.192 avg, .453 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Machado played in 91 games in Rookie+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 57 for 255 (.224 avg, .690 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 5 homers and 27 RBIs. Machado has also played in 24 games in his major league career in which he is 15 for 68 (.221 avg, .657 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. If the Pirates have to use either of these guys in 2009 the season is going downhill.

The Pirates have signed 25-year old righty swinging catcher Miguel Perez to a minor league deal. Perez played in 57 games in AA-ball last year and he was 48 for 171 (.281 avg, .669 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 2 homers and 22 RBIs. Perez has also played in 2 games in his major league career in which he is 0 for 3 (.000 avg). Perez will battle this spring for the right to back up Ryan Doumit for the Pirates.

The Pirates have signed 31-year old righty swinging outfielder Craig Monroe to a minor league contract. He played in 58 games for the Twins last season and he was 33 for 163 (.202 avg, .679 OPS) with 22 runs scored, 8 homers and 29 RBIs. Monroe has now played in 780 games in his major league career in which he is 661 for 2,612 (.253 avg, .745 OPS) with 360 runs scored, 112 homers and 417 RBIs. Monroe’s agent did a good job in talking the Pirates into giving him a chance to revive his career as they definately need help in the outfield.

The Pirates have signed 31-year old righty swinging 1B Andy Phillips to a minor league deal. Phillips played in 56 games for the Mets and Reds last season in which he was 18 for 78 (.231 avg) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. He has now played in 259 games in his major league career and he is 139 for 557 (.250 avg, .678 OPS) with 77 runs scored, 14 homers and 70 RBIs. Don’t expect a whole lot out of Phillips in 2009 for the Pirates.