Pirates outright Travis Ishikawa

The Pirates have outrighted Travis Ishikawa, Rob Biertempfel writes. This means Ishikawa has cleared waivers, which comes as no surprise. He can become a free agent if he wants, and it's not yet clear if he will. Clearly, having Ike Davis in the picture changes the Pirates' first base outlook considerably, and Ishikawa could decide that, between Davis and Andrew Lambo, he isn't likely to get many opportunities in Pittsburgh. It would be nice to have him around, though -- he's not a good starter at the big-league level, but he is a decent backup-to-your-backup-plan type.