Pirates Acquire John McDonald

The Pirates have acquired 38-year-old backup infielder John McDonald from the Arizona Diamondbacks, according to Ken Rosenthal. Jon Heyman reports that the Bucs will send a player to be named later to the Diamondbacks in return. With the 40-man roster full, the Pirates placed infielder Chase d'Arnaud on the 60-day DL to make room. 

Pirates Sign Jose Contreras

The Pirates have signed veteran right handed reliever Jose Contreras to a minor league deal. He reported to camp earlier today.

Contreras is coming off back-to-back seasons that have ended prematurely due to elbow problems, the latter resulting in Tommy John surgery, undergoing the procedure on June 20 last year. Bill Brink reported that he’s thrown off a mound three times so far as part of his rehabilitation process, however it would be unlikely if he will be seen in a Pirates uniform prior to June – given the usual 12 month rehab schedule.

Pirates Sign Catcher Lucas May

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a minor move, signing catcher Lucas May to a minor league contract. May - who turned 28 this past October - started out in the Dodgers Organization back in 2006. He received his first major league action in the Royals organization in 2010, finding his way to Kansas via a trade for Scott Podsednik.

External Transactions

Baseball is fairly unique.  Twenty-five players comprise a major league squad, but an organization has contractual control over significantly more than that amount.  They are prospects - players in the minor leagues.  Take a glance at a major league team today and a good portion of their players were in that teams farm system in the past.  That's one of the focuses of Buried Treasure - examining and evaluating the minor league system of the Pittsburgh Pirates because it's the lifeblood and foundation of the major league team.