A bunch of Pirates minor leaguers have become free agents. Indulge your inner minor-league geek here:

Pittsburgh

Pitchers: RHP Jason Davis, RHP Eric Hacker, LHP Corey Hamman, RHP Lincoln Holdzkom, RHP Jorge Julio, LHP Bobby Livingston, RHP Juan Mateo,  RHP Scott Nestor, RHP Jeremy Powell, RHP Dionis Rodriguez, RHP Ty Taubenheim, RHP Virgil Vasquez

Catchers: Hector Gimenez, Steven Lerud, Miguel Perez, Milver Reyes, Steven Suarez

Infielders: Chris Barnwell, Josh Bonifay, Tagg Bozied, Larry Broadway, Ray Chang, Angel Gonzalez, Pedro Lopez, Brian Myrow, Jamie Romak

Outfielders: Victor Igsema, Jonel Pacheco

This list includes a few vaguely interesting guys:

Eric Hacker came over from the Yankees in exchange for Romulo Sanchez and made his big league debut late this year after performing rather disappointingly at Indianapolis. Still, he'd be nice to have around this year.

Juan Mateo has a good performance record and has been a good soldier for the past couple years in Altoona and Indianapolis; it was mildly strange that he never got a chance with the Pirates when it seemed like every player on the Indy staff was getting a callup.

Steve Lerud has been just off the prospect radar forever; he's now 25, hasn't realized the bit of power potential he seemed to have, and can't hit for average. Too bad; lefty catchers with power have lots of value.

Tagg Bozied and Brian Myrow were among the most talented hitters at Indianapolis this year and many projection systems rate them fairly highly, but they're older minor league vets and will be lucky to get another chance in the big leagues no matter where they end up.

I had hopes for Jamie Romak who, until Pedro Alvarez arrived, was probably the best power prospect in the Pirates' system, but he quashed them with a horrible year at Altoona and then Lynchburg.