Ronny Paulino signs with Mariners; Jair Jurrjens heads to Orioles

In the absence of any real news about the Pirates, some notes on transactions around the majors.

-P- Former Pirate/annoyance Ronny Paulino has signed a minor-league deal with the Mariners. This has been in progress for a couple days, much like Paulino's usual jaunt from home to first on a groundout. Lookout Landing notes that Paulino has a fairly clear path to a major-league job, as he'll essentially replace John Jaso, who was dealt away in the Mike Morse deal.

-P- The Orioles have signed Jair Jurrjens to a one-year, incentive-laden deal. I suppose anyone's decision to sign Jair Jurrjens would have hinged pretty strongly on their opinion of Jair Jurrjens -- to me, his disastrous 2012 season suggests he's going to have serious problems recovering anything like his 2008-2009 form, and I wouldn't have given him a major-league deal at all. Then again, Jurrjens' $1.5 million base salary won't really hurt anyone. What's particularly strange about it from Jurrjens' perspective, though, is that the Orioles have a ton of pitchers competing for spots in the back end of their rotation, including several fellow faded-young-stud types (Zach Britton, Brian Matusz, Jake Arrieta). Jurrjens will have a hard time standing out, unless he comes out in 2013 looking like a totally different pitcher.

-P- The Rockies have agreed to terms (apparently on a minor-league deal) with Yorvit Torrealba, and you can almost convince yourself he never actually left Colorado in the first place, even if he somehow actually was 2.8 wins above replacement for the Padres in 2010. In terms of the national baseball consciousness, PETCO Park is topped only by PNC Park, Kauffman Stadium and whatever's going on in Miami as places to hide in plain sight, although a 2.8-win season definitely isn't the way to do it.

Anyway, since then he's played for the Rangers, Jays and Brewers. I'm sure no one noticed. You've got to think a part-time catcher in his mid-30s who doesn't hit much is great at staying out of the way, lest he bump his knee on a folding chair and lose his ability to ever squat again. It's straight to the glue factory if that happens. Ronny Paulino, take note. Anyway, Yorvit Torrealba: Rockie for life!