Two Pittsburgh Pirates free agent rumors, after a few weeks of little to no news:
–Dejan Kovacevic reports that the Pirates have had discussions with Paul Maholm, although a return seems unlikely. Kovacevic mentions that the Pirates are looking to upgrade the rotation, but that those additions will probably come from non-roster invitees, rather than a high profile addition. We heard earlier that the Pirates agreed to sign Jo-Jo Reyes to a minor league deal.
–Phil Mackey of ESPN 1500 has an article on the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen search. He mentions that one of the targets, Dan Wheeler, has drawn interest from the Pirates. However, he adds that one baseball person indicated that Neal Huntington isn’t ready to offer a guaranteed contract. Wheeler turned 34 in December, and has a 3.65 ERA in 155.1 innings over the last three years, with a 7.5 K/9, a 1.9 BB/9, and a 1.4 HR/9 ratio.
