The Pittsburgh Pirates agree to re-sign right-handed starting pitcher Ivan Nova on Thursday. 

Nova and the Pirates agree to a three-year, $26 million contract with a $2 million signing bonus. 

The once promising pitcher had a revival in Pittsburgh during the second half of last season, and he has decided to stay with the team that helped him rediscover his once-exciting potential. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed pitcher Daniel Hudson, a source confirmed to Cover Those Bases on Monday.

Hudson's deal with the Pirates is for two years and is worth $11 million, the source said. The deal includes $1.5 million in incentives for both seasons based on games finished. They begin to kick when Hudson finishes 30 games, and they will max out if he finishes 60.
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Hudson will add to the back-end of a Pirates bullpen that has lost two crucial pieces in the last calendar year in Mark Melancon and Neftali Feliz (who is still a free agent at the time of this writing).

The Atlanta Braves have signed super utility man Sean Rodriguez, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reported Thursday. 

FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman reports that Rodriguez received a two-year, $11.5 million deal from Atlanta. He will earn $5 million in both 2017 and 2018 in addition to a  $1.5 million signing bonus. 

The Braves have been very active thus far this offseason, as Rodriguez is their third notable move. They signed two veteran starting pitchers--R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon--before adding Rodriguez to their lineup. 

Going forward, Rodriguez is expected to mostly play second base with Atlanta. He does have experience at almost every position on the diamond, though, playing first, second, shortstop, third, right field, center field and left field all just last season with the Pirates.

Five teams reportedly showed interest in Rodriguez. The Blue Jays, Pirates and Dodgers were all mentioned as suitors. MLBTradeRumors.com pegged Rodriguez for a two-year, $12 million deal, so he got about what was expected money-wise. 

Rodriguez had a great 2016 season, posting a .270/.349/.510 line with 18 home runs and 56 RBI over 342 plate appearances. According to FanGraphs, he was worth 1.9 Wins Above Replacement. 

--Devan Fink

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced on Monday that they have extended third and first baseman David Freese on a two-year deal.

As Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported, Freese will earn a guaranteed $11 million in the new deal. There is also a team option for 2019 valued at $6 million with a $500,000 buyout. 

According to Heyman, Freese can earn up to $22.5 million over three years on the contract, as the deal includes performance bonuses based on plate appearances. 

The 33-year-old Freese signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Pirates this past March after being non-tendered by the Angels in November.

Most famous for the walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series as a member of the Cardinals, Freese still remains a serviceable option on both sides of the ball five years later.

This season, Freese is hitting .276/.355/.437 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI in 391 plate appearances.

He has posted a 117 wRC+ this season as well as a 3.7 UZR/150 at third base and a -13.1 UZR/150 at first base. Freese has been worth 1.6 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs. 

Prior to signing Freese, the Pirates have $53 million guaranteed to nine players next season with another seven players hitting arbitration. Baseball-Reference projects their 2017 payroll to be at $88.3 million, a 27 percent increase from 2016 if so. 

​--Devan Fink

The Toronto Blue Jays spent most of trade deadline day shuffling around their starting rotation, but after the bell sounded is when their biggest deal leaked. 

As first reported by Robert Murray of FanRag Sports, the Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates have struck a deal. Toronto has acquired Francisco Liriano and two top prospects--catcher Reese McGuire and outfielder Harold Ramirez--in exchange for right-hander Drew Hutchinson. 

The 32-year-old Liriano had been one of the Pirates' best pitchers over the past three years, if not their best pitcher. But in 2016, he has struggled, allowing the Blue Jays to potentially buy him on the low in a free agent year. 

The Dominican Republic native has gone 6-11 this season with a 5.46 ERA over 21 starts, numbers that are not great. He has struck out 116 batters over 113 2/3 innings pitched, in line with his career averages but has walked 69, highest in the National League. 

He'll struggle in Toronto if he can't find his location in the hitter-friendly American League East, but at the same time, he could be a great add for them down the stretch. He has playoff experience and had a 3.26 ERA and a 2.54 K/BB ratio from 2012 to 2015.

Liriano's current three-year, $39 million deal culminates at the end of 2016.  

Hutchinson, on the other hand, is another buy-low candidate for Pittsburgh. He is just 25 years old but has never quite broken out as a great starter in Toronto.

This season, in particular, he's been hit around a bit in the Majors, allowing seven earned runs and four home runs while posting a 12-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 12 2/3 innings pitched. In Triple-A, he's pitched to a 3.26 ERA and a 110-35 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 102 innings. 

One positive to Hutchinson is that he is able to be controlled through the 2018 season. And if there is any team that can fix him up, it's the Pirates, who have been known to help many pitchers mechanically, including Liriano. 

--Devan Fink