Burnett passed the physical and mlb approved the trade. Done deal.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) February 19, 2012

Now that the trade is official and approved by MLB, a corresponding roster move must be made by the Pirates to make room for A.J. Burnett on the 40-man roster. The likely candidates seem to be Duke Welker or Gustavo Nunez.

I’ll update this post to reflect the move when it is announced.

UPDATE:

Rule V draft pick Gustavo Nunez has been placed on the 60-day disabled list to make room for Burnett.

(Pending commissioner approval)

The Yankees will send right handed pitcher A.J. Burnett along with $20 million in cash to the Pirates for minor leaguers Diego Moreno and Exicardo Cayones.

I’m not going to go into much about Burnett because we’ve discussed it non-stop for about a week now, but Rob Biertempfel says that out of Burnett’s $13 million that will have to be paid by the Pirates, $5 million will be paid this season and $8 million next season. That leaves the Pirates with a lot of financial flexibility still this season if (big if) they are looking to add some production at this year’s trade deadline.

Now to the players the Yankees will receive:

Diego Moreno was thought of as a pretty nice prospect a few years ago as a reliever who consistently threw in the high-90′s and posted excellent numbers in Single-A. The problem with the now 25 year old righty is that as soon as he hit AA (in both 2010 and 2011), he hit a wall. He was also demoted and suspended in 2010 for undisclosed reasons. He was eligible for this year’s Rule V draft, but went both unprotected and undrafted.

Exicardo Cayones was signed by the Pirates in 2008 out of Venezuela for $400,000, which at the time, was the highest bonus paid by the Pirates for a Latin American amateur. He is now entering his age 20 season, which will be his 3rd season in the US. He suffered a setback last year with a very poor campaign in State College (.063/.189/.063) before being sent back to the GCL. He’s still somewhat interesting because he’s young, but his stock isn’t where it was at this time last year.

Garrett Jones and the Pirates went to arbitration yesterday to determine if he would make $2.25 million or $2.5 million this season. Today, arbitration was ruled in favor of the Pirates and Jones will make $2.25 million.

It’s pretty amazing that they couldn’t settle with the two sides being so close, but hey, I guess it saves $250,000.

After the Jones ruling, the Pirates avoided arbitration with Casey McGehee as the two sides agreed to a $2.5375 million deal. McGehee was set for an arbitration hearing today.

This leaves everyone on the roster with a contract going into spring training as these two players were the only ones still being negotiated.

Kevin Goldstein from Baseball Prospectus tweeted today that the Pirates signed left-handed reliever Brian Tallet. Tallet’s deal is a minor league contract and does not yet include an invite to spring training (Major League camp).

After hearing that an invite to camp doesn’t go along with this signing, I think it is safe to say that Tallet will be starting off the year in AAA-Indianapolis with the opportunity to make the club as a lefty reliever if needed. Tallet, 34, has battled many injuries and hasn’t been effective since 2008. In 2009, the Blue Jays tried making a starter out of him after many successful seasons as a reliever and that move to the rotation essentially ruined his career. He hasn’t been healthy or semi-decent since then.

The Pirates announced today that veteran reliever Juan Cruz has signed a minor league deal that includes an invitation to spring training.

Cruz, 33, pitched for the Rays last season and posted a 3.88 ERA in 48 2/3 innings. Throughout his 11 season career, he has a 9.1 K/9 ratio and has served as a pretty good setup man.

Many people say he could end up being this year’s version of Jose Veras. He will have to impress during spring training as the Bucs’ bullpen looks to be a strength going into this season, but at the worst will be serviceable bullpen depth if he is called upon.

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.