The Pirates have signed 29-year old righty swinging shortstop Bobby Crosby to a 1-year, $1 million dollar deal with a possible $500K in incentives. Crosby played in 97 games for the A’s last season and he was 53 for 238 (.223 avg, .652 OPS) with 35 runs scored, 6 homers, 29 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 677 games in his 7 years in the majors and he is 568 for 2,391 (.238 avg, .683 OPS) with 320 runs scored, 61 homers, 263 RBIs and 34 stolen bases. Crosby was the American League Rookie of the Year in 2004 for the Oakland A’s but it has been all downhill from there as injuries have often derailed him but he hasn’t even been good when healthy since he won that award. This is still not much of a risk for the Pirates to take so he might surprise everyone and be worth it.

The Pirates have signed 30-year old righty reliever Vinnie Chulk to a minor league deal. Chulk pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Indians last season and he was 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. He has now pitched in 252 games (0 starts) in his seven year major league career and he is 7-15 with 2 saves, a 4.33 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Chulk will have a chance to make the Pirates next spring but I wouldn’t hold out any high hopes for him making a positive impact in 2010.

The Pirates have released 25-year old righty swinging shortstop Luis Cruz. Cruz played in 27 games for the Pirates last season and he was 15 for 70 (.214 avg, .511 OPS) with 5 runs scored and 2 RBIs. He also played in 66 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 58 for 229 (.253 avg, .632 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 3 homers, 23 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Pirates decided to release Cruz to make room on the roster for a Rule 5 Draft Pick later in the Winter Meetings. Cruz played in 49 games in his two years with the Pirates and he was 30 for 137 (.219 avg, .528 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 0 homers, 5 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Pirates won’t miss him at all as he doesn’t have much of an upside.

The Pirates have signed 28-year old lefty reliever Wil Ledezma to a minor league deal. Ledezma pitched in 5 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season and he was 0-0 with a 9.53 ERA and a 2.12 WHIP. He also pitched in 29 games (0 starts) in A+AA+AAA ball last season and he was 1-3 with 1 save, a 3.49 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. Ledezma has now pitched in 160 games (40 starts) in his major league career and he is 15-22 with a 5.17 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP. Ledezma was worth taking a chance on for the Pirates as he has a great pitching arm. The problem has been his control as he has walked 183 batters in 370 1/3 innings this year. It will be up to the Pirates’ coaches to teach him how to pitch. If they have success with Ledezma he has a nice upside.