The Pirates have claimed former Dodger Franquelis Osoria off waivers and added him to the 40-man roster.
Osoria, a righty reliever who turns 25 today, is coming off a miserable year in Los Angeles and Class AAA Las Vegas. With the Dodgers, he allowed four homers and nine walks in 17.1 innings, posting a 7.13 ERA. With Vegas, he had a 4.35 ERA but only struck out 28 batters in 51.2 innings. His fastball sinks and he throws sidearm.
Maybe Jim Tracy had something to do with this - he used to manage Osoria, and he likes guys who throw from weird arm angles, but I doubt he had to twist the arm of Dave Littlefield, whose perverse fascination with mediocre relievers continues.