The Pirates have re-signed 27-year old switch hitting catcher Hector Gimenez to a minor league deal. Gimenez played in 89 games in AA+AAA ball last season for the Pirates and he was 83 for 301 (.276 avg, .739 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 8 homers, 38 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gimenez has only played in 2 games in his major league career to date and he is 0 for 2 (.000 avg) with a whiff. Gimenez might get another shot at the majors at some point in 2010 if the Pirates suffer some injuries at catcher.

The Pirates have brought back 27-year old righty starting pitcher Virgil Vasquez to a minor league deal. He pitched in 14 games (7 starts) for the Pirates last season and he was 2-5 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Vasquez has now pitched two years in the majors working in 19 games (10 starts) in which he is 2-6 with a 6.60 ERA and a 1.76 WHIP. He was once one of the brightest prospects in the Tigers’ minor league system so he does have talent and that’s why the Pirates have brought him back for another look.

The Pirates have designated 26-year old righty swinging catcher Robinzon Diaz for assignment. Diaz played in 41 games for the Pirates last year and he was 36 for 129 (.279 avg, .664 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer and 19 RBIs. He also played in 44 games in AAA-ball last season in which he was 39 for 149 (.262 avg, .657 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Despite Diaz’ lack of power the Pirates are not too smart in getting rid of him this way. They should have traded him and got something back for him as I doubt he will clear waivers.

UPDATE: No one claimed Diaz on waivers but he didn’t have any minor league options left so the Pirates released him.

The Pirates have claimed 30-year old righty starter/reliever Chris Jakubauskas off waivers from the Mariners. As a rookie last season he pitched in 35 games (8 starts) for the Mariners and he was 6-7 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. To make room for Jakubauskas on the roster the Pirates have designated 27-year old righty starter/reliever Jeff Karstens for assignment. Karstens pitched in 39 games (13 starts) for the Pirates last season and he was 4-6 with a 5.42 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. He has now pitched in 146 games (63 starts) in his major league career and he is 9-17 with 1 save, a 5.15 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. These two guys look like essentially the same pitcher to me except that Karstens is younger and has more service time.

28-year old lefty swinging OF/1B Garrett Jones finished 7th in the voting for the Rookie of the Year Award in the National League. He played in 82 games for the Pirates last season and he was 92 for 314 (.293 avg, .938 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 21 homers, 44 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see this season if Jones’ success was a mirage or not as he got off to a really fast start before fading late in the year. Either way the Pirates will no doubt be giving him a lot of at bats this season to find out.