North Side Notch

The Pirates agreed to terms with two more players today, leaving only Garrett Jones and Casey McGehee still needing contracts heading into arbitration.

Reliever Evan Meek signed a 1-year deal worth $875,000 with the possibility of another $25,000 in bonuses if he reaches 50 IP. Meek pitched just 20 2/3 innings last season due to injuries. He posted a 3.48 ERA and a 7.4 K/9 ratio. Let’s hope Meek can stay healthy and regain his 2010 form.

Jeff Karstens signed a 1-year deal for $3.1 million. Karstens is coming off a career season where he stepped up to plug a big hole in the rotation. He pitched in 30 games (26 starts) and posted a stellar 3.38 ERA over 162 1/3 innings. Here’s hoping that wasn’t a fluke, like most of us think it was.

The Pirates agreed to terms on a 1-year deal with closer Joel Hanrahan and starter Charlie Morton. Both players are entering their 1st season of arbitration eligibility.

Hanrahan’s deal is worth $4.1 million after a stellar season where he posted a 1.83 ERA over 68 2/3 innings. He racked up 40 saves in 44 opportunities. His K/9 dipped down to 8.0 from 12.9 in 2010, so that will be something to keep an eye on in 2012.

Morton’s deal is for $2.45 million after a breakout 2011 campaign where he put up a 3.83 ERA over 171 2/3 innings. He finished the season with the 3rd highest ground ball percentage at 58.5%, which helped make up for his low K/9 of 5.8. It will be interesting to see if he can continue to build off his 2011 season and be the pitcher the Pirates are hoping he is.

The Pirates and reliever Chris Resop have agreed to a 1-year deal worth $850,000, which will allow the two sides to avoid going to arbitration.

Resop, 29, posted a 4.39 ERA over 69 2/3 innings of relief last season. He struck out 79 batters and walked 30 while posting an xFIP of 3.53 (thus making it look like he suffered from some bad luck).

This looks to be a pretty team friendly deal as Tim Williams from Pirates Prospects estimated Resop to make $1.1 million this season. Resop won’t have to compete much for a job in the bullpen as he really already has one locked up barring some catastrophe.

Ken Rosenthal tweeted earlier today that the Pirates have signed left handed reliever Doug Slaten to a minor league deal. He chose the Pirates’ minor league offer over those from Milwaukee and Texas.

Slaten will be 32 in February and could actually prove to be pretty useful if used correctly. Over his career, he has held lefties to a .241/.304/.361 line. His numbers against righties, however, are pretty awful. He pitched just 16 1/3 innings last year for Washington due to an elbow injury.

He will compete for a job in the bullpen, but I would say he is a bit of a long shot to make the club out of Spring Training.

The Pirates announced 2 minor league deals over the past 2 days.

Yesterday, the Bucs signed lefty starter Jo-Jo Reyes, who started 25 games between Baltimore and Toronto last year. Over 140 2/3 innings, he went 7-11 with a 5.57 ERA. Reyes should serve as AAA depth and will probably only sniff the Major League roster if there are multiple injuries.

Today, the club announced the signing of reliever Logan Kensing. Kensing is 29 and has not pitched in the Majors since 2009. Last year he split time between Bridgeport of the Atlantic League (Independent) and in AAA in the Yankees organization. Like Reyes, he will serve as AAA depth and shouldn’t spend any time in Pittsburgh barring injuries.

Pirates, Jason Grilli agree to terms on a $1.1MM deal for 2011, I have learned.

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@mlbtrben) December 13, 2011

Sack is back.

Jason Grilli posted a 2.48 ERA over 32.2 innings last season. He struck out 37 and walked 15. This deal will avoid the Bucs taking Grilli to arbitration.