The Pirates have signed 31-year old lefty reliever Jack Taschner to a minor league deal. Taschner pitched in 24 games (0 starts) for the Phillies last season and he was 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.98 WHIP. In five years in his major league career, Taschner has pitched in 202 games (0 starts) and he is 9-5 with a 5.00 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. It looks like the Pirates think if they can sign enough lefty relievers that one of them will magically step up and pitch well.

The Pirates have signed 32-year old lefty reliever Javier Lopez to a minor league deal. Lopez pitched in 14 games (0 starts) last season for the Red Sox and he was 0-2 with a 9.26 ERA and a 2.49 WHIP. He has now pitched in 343 games (0 starts) in 7 years in the majors and he is 11-7 with 4 saves, a 4.62 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. Lopez will have a pretty good shot of making the Pirates’ bullpen in 2010.

The Pirates decided against offering 2010 contracts to either 26-year old righty reliever Matt Capps or 28-year old lefty reliever Phil Dumatrait making both of them free agents. Capps pitched in 57 games (0 starts) for the Pirates last season and he was 4-8 with 27 saves, a 5.80 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP. Capps pitched in 5 years for the Pirates working in 271 games (0 starts) in which he was 19-19 with 67 saves, a 3.61 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. The Pirates should have tried harder to trade Capps because a lot of teams are interested in signing him so the GM dropped the ball here. Dumatrait pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Pirates last season and he was 0-2 with a 6.92 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP. He pitched 2 years for the Pirates working in 36 games (11 starts) in which he was 3-6 with a 5.50 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP. The Pirates won’t miss Dumatrait too much as he just isn’t that good.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have selected 25-year old righty swinging outfielder John Raynor in the Rule 5 Draft. Raynor played in 123 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 115 for 447 (.250 avg, .687 OPS) with 63 runs scored, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Raynor has now played in 419 games in his four years in the minors and he is 461 for 1,786 (.299 avg, .698 OPS) with 313 runs scored, 36 homers, 165 RBIs and 142 stolen bases. Raynor will have a great chance of making the Pirates this spring as he would add speed and defense to their bench.

The Pirates have brought in Bobby Crosby to challenge Ronny Cedeno for the starting job at shortstop in 2010. Cedeno played in 46 games for the Pirates after coming over from the Mariners last season and he was 40 for 155 (.258 avg, .701 OPS) with 17 runs scored, 5 homers and 21 RBIs. He has now played five years in his major league career and he is 299 for 1,245 (.240 avg, .626 OPS) with 138 runs scored, 23 homers, 126 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see how Cedeno responds to the challenge the Pirates have put in front of him.