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I'm a couple days late on this, but it's probably still worth mentioning here. The Giants have signed pitcher Erik Cordier, who spent 2013 in the Pirates' system, to a major-league deal.
Cordier has never pitched in the big leagues, so this probably seems a little strange. Cordier took a big step forward while pitching for Indianapolis in 2013, striking out 11 batters per nine and posting a K:BB ratio of better than 2:1 for the first time since 2006. He also throws very hard. It would have been nice if the Pirates had kept him -- with Cordier's stuff and the step forward he took this season, one can see what the Giants are thinking here.
It's a bit odd in general for a player who didn't play in the majors the previous season to receive a big-league deal, but it's actually not even the first time it happened this offseason -- the Royals signed catcher Francisco Pena, who spent 2013 in the Mets system, to a big-league deal earlier this month, and the Orioles did the same thing with pitcher Kelvin De La Cruz, who was with the Dodgers last year.
