-P- As cocktailsfor2 already pointed out in the FanPosts, the Pirates have designated Craig Monroe for assignment, replacing him on the roster with Steve Pearce, who will mostly play outfield. The Pirates' weird non-plan for Pearce marches on--last year he was in the minors working on his outfield defense, this year he was back there to play first base so he could potentially replace Adam LaRoche, and now he's back in the outfield again. I have no idea what the goal of all that was, unless it was to make me not care about Pearce anymore. Well, whatever--Brandon Moss hadn't been playing well and had been playing less and less, so the Bucs might as well give the resulting free plate appearances to Pearce, who might someday be a useful player, rather than Monroe, who shows every indication of being done.
-P- The Pirates have signed second baseman Brock Holt, their ninth-round pick out of Rice University. He'll head to State College, where he'll presumably be the Spikes' starting second baseman.
-P- Shawn Chacon has signed a minor-league deal with the A's.