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The Pirates will conduct a 2 p.m. news conference at PNC Park to announce the signings of Paul Maholm and Eric Hinske. Both players are expected to attend, although the weather could change those plans.
Maholm is getting a three-year deal with a club option for 2012. There is about $13 million in guaranteed salary, plus [...]

The Pirates will be busy tomorrow, finalizing contracts with pitcher Paul Maholm and outfielder Eric Hinske.
Maholm will get a three-year deal with a team option for 2012. That buys out all three of Maholm’s arbitration years and his first year of free agency. Financial terms of the deal were not immediately available.
Hinkse will [...]

Sean Casey, an Upper St. Clair native who played for the Pirates in 2006, will join the MLB Network. An official announcement will come tomorrow.
Casey retired last week, ending a 12-year career which included stints with the Cleveland Indians (1997), Cincinnati Reds (1998-2005), Pirates, Detroit Tigers (2006-07) and Boston Red Sox (2008).
Casey was one of [...]

Major League Baseball has set the dates for arbitration hearings for Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm and outfielder Nate McLouth. Maholm’s case will be heard Feb. 10 and McLouth’s Feb. 17.
Both players asked for $3.8 million in arbitration. The Pirates countered with an offer of $2.75 million for McLouth and $2.65 million for Maholm. If the [...]

The Pirates today claimed pitcher Virgil Vasquez off waivers from the San Diego Padres.
The 26-year-old right-hander spent all of last season with Toledo, the Detroit Tiger’s Triple-A club. He went 12-12 with a 4.81 ERA, 115 strikeouts and 37 walks in 27 starts. He was the Tigers’ seventh-round pick in the 2003 draft.
Vasquez was claimed [...]

I’ve already gotten a lot of feedback regarding the Pirates’ stance on a salary cap for MLB. As I was leaving Mass this morning, my phone chirped with the arrival of an e-mail from Larry DeGaris, the marketing professor at the University of Indianapolis. DeGaris had some additional thoughts on the issue:
“Interesting that officials in [...]

Even with a Steelers rally across town Friday night and snow blanketing the city Sunday, total attendance for the three-day PirateFest was 15,127 — an increase of 4 percent over last year. It’s the third-highest tally since the event moved to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in 2004.
“Pirates fans have once again proven to [...]

Pirates officials were pleased to read today that Paul Maholm is optimistic about getting a contract done rather than going to arbitration. The two sides continue to talk, and one source put the odds of a multi-year deal being done in the next couple of weeks at better than 50-50.
The Q&A sessions for fans with [...]

The “Ask Pirates Management” sessions can be the most interesting — and most revealing — part of PirateFest, the one must-see portion of the weekend event. The fans’ questions, even when they are long, rambling and a bit whiny (as was the case once or twice tonight), always are asked from the heart. General manager [...]

The Pirates’ new uniforms feature sleeves on the home and away jerseys and a new black alternate jersey. From left are Nate McLouth (alternate), Matt Capps (home pinstripes), Nyjer Morgan (away sleeves) and Freddy Sanchez (home sleeves) at Piratefest Friday in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. (Photo by Christopher Horner/Tribune-Review)

For the first time in [...]