Roundup: Andy LaRoche signs with Blue Jays, Yankees to sign Travis Hafner

-P- Pat writes about the state of the Pirates' farm system.

-P- The Blue Jays signed Andy LaRoche to a minor-league deal yesterday. I just visited LaRoche's MILB page and was a little taken aback -- he looks like he's aged about a decade since he played for the Bucs. (See also here.) Anyway, LaRoche is keeping the dream alive, but he doesn't even really hit all that well at Class AAA anymore, and the Indians cut him from their AAA team in Columbus last June. He ended up catching on in Pawtucket and hitting a bit better. Toronto will be his fourth organization since leaving Pittsburgh behind following the 2010 season. Obligatory: The Jason Bay deal was bad. Et cetera.

-P- It looks like the Yankees will sign Travis Hafner. I was surprised to look at his FanGraphs page and see he was only with the Indians for 10 years -- it seems like it's been forever. Overall, Cleveland got 200 home runs and two 1.000 OPS seasons out of a guy it traded Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese to acquire. That's a pretty nifty return. Hafner is well past his prime, of course, and the Indians have to be thrilled to be out from under his awful final contract with them, but he's still a decent lefty power source, even though he's absolutely nothing else.

-P- The Diamondbacks have agreed to terms on a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Martin Prado. That's the other shoe dropping after the Justin Upton trade. I disliked the trade from Arizona's perspective, but Prado's defense and versatility make him a fine investment at $40 million. The question is whether Randall Delgado, a grab bag of prospects, and Prado's late prime are worth Justin Upton and Chris Johnson.