John McDonald dealt, draftees signed, Kingham promoted

The Pirates are confirming the earlier rumor that they've dealt McDonald to the Indians. The return is cash considerations or a PTBNL. The move no doubt was made easier by Jordy Mercer's solid showing as the utility infielder during McDonald's absence, as well as Chase d'Arnaud's return from an injury. It seemed pretty obvious during McDonald's extended rehab assignment that the team was looking to move him. The Bucs' acquisition of McDonald made no sense at the time and his hitting -- 2-for-31 -- should have come as no surprise at all. His brief tenure marks yet another failed experiment by Neal Huntington with aging veteran bench players, but on the plus side, the GM seems to be willing to pull the plug on these pointless acquisitions at increasingly early stages.

In other news, Pirates Prospects is reporting the signing of several of the Pirates' draft picks:

Beau Wallace, 3B (12th round) -- Wallace is a right-handed hitting thirdbaseman out of community college in Mississippi.

Danny Collins, 1B (13th round) -- Collins has a well regarded bat, as he's hit for power and average at Troy University. His draft standing probably suffered some as a result of being a right-handed hitting firstbaseman, which is not a favored demographic among scouts.

Jeff Roy, CF (18th round) -- Roy is a leadoff type whose hitting took a step backward this year. He appears to be a big-time base stealer.

Cameron Griffin, LHP (23rd round) -- Griffin has been a reliever in college and is coming off a rough year, but he throws in the low 90s.

Michael Fransoso, SS (27th round) -- A college senior from Maine, Fransoso appears to be a bat-first middle infielder.

UPDATE: P2 also is reporting that the Pirates have promoted Nick Kingham to Altoona.