The Pirates have placed starting catcher Ryan Doumit on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured right wrist. Doumit has played in 12 games for the Pirates so far this season and he is 11 for 45 (.244 avg, .738 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 9 RBIs. This is a huge loss for the Pirates as Doumit’s replacements don’t have much thunder in their bats. Jason Jaramillo will take over as the starting catcher while Doumit is out. Jaramillo has played in 5 games for the Pirates so far this season and he is 4 for 14 (.286 avg, .690 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. The Pirates have recalled Robinzon Diaz to replace Doumit on the active roster and he will serve as Jaramillo’s backup. He has played in 6 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 7 for 20 (.350 avg, .781 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded 32-year old righty swinging 1B Andy Phillips to the White Sox for 23-year old righty reliever Michael Dubee. Phillips has played in 9 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 13 for 36 (.361 avg, .859 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. Phillips has also 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, 70 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Dubee has pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in A-ball this season and he is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. Dubee doesn’t have much of a upside but Phillips appears to be a career backup player at best.

The Pirates have acquired 30-year old righty swinging shortstop Chris Barnwell from the Astros for future considerations. Barnwell played in 94 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 91 for 330 (.276 avg, .761 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 6 homers, 42 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Barnwell has also played in 13 games in his major league career in which he was 2 for 30 (.067 avg, .164 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base. This was nothing more than a move to improve the AAA team this season for the Pirates.

The Pirates have acquired 26-year old switch hitting outfielder Delwyn Young from the Dodgers for two minor league players to be named later. Young played in 83 games for the Dodgers last season and he was 31 for 126 (.246 avg, .662 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 1 homer and 7 RBIs. He has now played in 110 games in his major league career and he is 44 for 165 (.267 avg, .725 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs. To make room on their 40 man roster the Pirates have decided to designate 24-year old lefty reliever Dave Davidson for assignment. Davidson pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season for the Pirates and he was 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. His first taste of the majors (2007) with the Pirates was a disaster as he worked in 2 games (0 starts) and he was 0-0 with a 22.50 ERA and a 4.00 WHIP. This was a good trade for the Pirates as Young is a good pinch hitter which is odd for a player so young.

UPDATE: The Pirates have lost lefty reliever David Davidson on waivers to the Marlins.

I wouldn’t bet a mortgage payment that the Pirates will go under 69.5 wins but I might bet a car payment. The Pirates did nothing to get better over the winter and they only won 67 games last season. The Pirates just don’t have a lot of talent going into the 2009 season. With that in mind I would suggest betting the under to help you pay for your Steelers’ tickets.