There hasn't been any action from the Pirates yet on Wednesday, but a couple former Pirates signed new deals.

Nate McLouth earned a raise (to $2 million, plus $500,000 in bonuses) as he re-signed with the Orioles. Despite his relatively strong performance down the stretch last year, I'm not really a believer -- his complete floperoo with the Pirates has to count for something, and McLouth hadn't had a good season before that since 2009. There also isn't much reason to expect him to provide much value as he gets older, since he can't hit for average anymore and he isn't a good outfielder.

Also, former Bucs prospect Jeff Keppinger got three years and about $12 million from the White Sox, who paid a princely sum for an aging utilityman who can't play shortstop. He can really hit, though -- if you're a .288 career batter who can stand at second base, that compensates for a lot of flaws. His nice payday came after he hit .325/.367/.439 for the Rays last year. It's a shame the Pirates tossed him into the Kris Benson deal back in 2004.