Rumors started around 9:00 PM ET of the Pirates being on the verge of landing the 33-year-old and ten minutes later it was a done deal.

Wandy is 7-9 with a 3.79 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 21 starts with the Astros this year. His strikeout rate is way down (career-low 6.1 K/9) from previous years and his ERA is currently the worst it’s been since 2007, but he’s a durable arm and would certainly be an upgrade over lefty Erik Bedard, who gets my vote for disappointment of the year despite his last few outings going relatively well.

The Dominican is making $10 million this year and is owed $13 million next season with a player option of $14 million in 2014.

Rodriguez could also replace Kevin Correia in the Pirates’ rotation. The 31-year-old is 7-6 with a 4.31 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Correia has been largely average since signing a two-year deal with the Pirates before the 2011 season, though he has won each of his last four starts.

Regardless of which player he replaces, Rodriguez will solidify what has been the National League’s sixth-best pitching staff ERA-wise.

The staff has been nothing short of shaky as of late, though, after being near unhittable in the opening months of the season. Even James McDonald has had a few poor outings in a row, including Tuesday night’s five-run performance in a loss to the Chicago Cubs.

This post will be updated as we find out which prospects will be headed Houston’s way.

Rodriguez is expected to make his Pirates debut in the upcoming series against none other than the Astros.

UPDATE 9:13 PM: Jon Heyman is reporting the Astros have included some cash along with Rodriguez.

UPDATE 9:41 PM: According to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ official Twitter, the team sent AAA LHP Rudy Owens, Single-A RHP Colton Cain and AA outfielder Robbie Grossman to the Astros for Rodriguez and cash.

My thoughts: It looks like a fair deal from both ends. The Pirates get a solid starting pitcher who is under contract for another year and could return for 2014, while the Astros get a 24-year-old left-hander who is essentially MLB ready, a mid-to-upper level prospect in Cain and one of the better hitting prospects in Pittsburgh’s system.

It doesn’t look like a steal for either side, but a good fair deal.

UPDATE 10:15 PM: Here’s the breakdown of how much the Pirates will owe Rodriguez after the cash Houston will send over:

2012 – Pirates pay $1.7 mm of $10 mm

2013 – Pirates pay $8.5 mm of $13 mm

2014 – If Rodriguez exercises option, Pirates pay $7.5 mm of $13 mm

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Here’s the most interesting part of the report:

There is no confirmation from either side of a tentative deal having been struck, but the sides are close enough to an agreement that the Bucs have for the time being pulled the plug on other prospective deals involving a left-hander.

To end talks with other teams about other lefties means the Pirates must be awful close to acquiring Rodriguez.

At age 33, Wandy is 7-9 with a 3.79 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 21 starts with the Astros this year. His strikeout rate is way down (career-low 6.1 K/9) from previous years and his ERA is currently the worst it’s been since 2007, but he’s a durable arm and would certainly be an upgrade over lefty Erik Bedard, who gets my vote for disappointment of the year, despite his last few outings going relatively well.

Rodriguez is making $10 million this year and will receive $13.5 million next season with a player option for between $13 and $14 million in 2014 that kicks in if he’s traded.

While he certainly won’t be worth what the player option will cost in two years -which means he’ll more than likely exercise it – he should still be a serviceable pitcher then and could serve as a sort of mentor for what is sure to be a young pitching staff featuring the likes of top prospects Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon.

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At least six NHL teams were ready to break the proverbial bank for Parise’s services. One of those teams was the Pittsburgh Penguins, who moved 23-year-old center Jordan Staal to the Carolina Hurricanes and shipped defenseman Zbynek Michalek back to the Phoenix Coyotes, freeing up about $8 million in cap space along the way.

Of course, Parise turned down the opportunity to play with the two best hockey players in the world in order to save mommy some airfare, leaving Pittsburgh with about $14 million in cap space and not a free agent worth spending it all on.

The difference between Pittsburgh and the other losers of the Parise sweepstakes – most notably the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers - is what each team did after missing out on the former 45-goal scorer.

You see, both the Blueshirts and the Halloweiners went out and made positively ginormous moves within two weeks of Parise’s decision.

A few days ago, the Flyers signed Nashville’s restricted free agent Shea Weber - arguably the best defenseman in the game – to an enormous 14-year, $110 million deal. We’ll know soon whether the Predators will match the offer and retain the soon-to-be 27-year-old’s services or if he’ll be a Flyer come training camp.

Yesterday, New York acquired former Columbus Blue Jacket Rick Nash, who is arguably the best power forward in the game today. They gave up Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and a first-round for Nash’s services, but gained an absolutely dominant player who should be well worth the losses.

The Penguins, meanwhile, still sit $10 million under the salary cap and have made exactly zero impact acquisitions this off-season.

The team was never going to be a serious suitor for Nash – Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson wanted NHL-ready talent in return – but, while still targeting wingers Shane Doan and Alex Semin, the odds of either player coming to Pittsburgh seem to be diminishing by the day.

With Pascal Dupuis and Tyler Kennedy among the team’s four best wingers and still a lack of any shutdown defensemen, the Penguins should probably be considered the third-best team in the Atlantic Division – especially if Weber heads to Philadelphia – despite being Vegas’ betting favorites to win the Stanley cup.

The Rangers have to be considered favorites to repeat as Atlantic Division champions, though the Flyers could give them a run for their money if Ilya Bryzgalov can focus on becoming universally better rather than on the universe itself.

While running a healthy Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin night in and night out will keep the Penguins in any and every game, Marc-Andre Fleury could be in for a long season if the defense in front of him plays as poorly as it did toward the end of last year and into the playoffs.

For now, the Penguins aren’t the best team in their own division, let along the league.

Of course, that’s why we play the games. Who knows- maybe the threat of a legitimate goaltender behind Fleury will push him to a Tim Thomas-like season and maybe both Crosby and Malkin will score 130 points and lead the Penguins to an Eastern Conference title.

Odds are, though, they won’t. Something else needs to be done. The Penguins must follow New York and Philadelphia and acquire some more names if they want a legitimate shot at winning anything this year.

Still, who would have thought Zach Parise would help decide the 2013 Atlantic Division title by heading to a seemingly irrelevant Northwest Division squad?

NOTE: The Predators hadn’t matched Weber’s offer sheet at the time of typing. Weber will not head to Philadelphia, but the Flyers are expected to push hard for another game-changer, such as Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan.

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The team swept the Miami Marlins in a three-game set this weekend, beginning with Friday’s 4-3 victory before winning 5-1 and 3-0 games on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit his 20th and 21st homers in the series, while Andrew McCutchen crushed number 22 on Friday.

McCutchen now sits second on the National League home run leader board while Alvarez ranks third.

Today, McCutchen collected two hits in four at bats to raise his season average to an astounding .372 – best in Major League Baseball by a sizeable margin.

Jeff Karstens started the game and pitched a seven-inning shutout gem, giving up just five hits along the way. He only recorded three strikeouts but only gave two free bases, lowering his season ERA to 3.52 over eight starts.

Jared Hughes and Joel Hanrahan each pitched a shutout inning of relief with Hanrahan picking up his 28th save of the year.

The Pirates are now 54-40 – a two decade best 14 games over .500 – and 32-18 at home, the best mark in Major League Baseball.

The Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 today, keeping the Pirates a half game out of first in the NL Central but 2.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves for the first wildcard spot.

The Bucs start another home series tonight at 7:05, this time with the Chicago Cubs.

Jeff Samardzija gets the ball for Chicago, facing Pittsburgh’s Erik Bedard. Both starters have ERAs of 4+.

The Cubs are on a three game losing streak, while the Pirates haven’t lost in their last five.

Let’s Go Bucs.

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The Bucs hold a one-game lead on the Cincinnati Reds for the NL Central division and are 2.5 games up on the St. Louis Cardinals.

James McDonald (9-3, 2.37) will take the mound for the Pirates, while Zack Greinke (9-3, 3.32) will start for the Brew Crew.

Here’s the team’s lineup for tonight:

1. Drew Sutton, LF

2. Neil Walker, 2B

3. Andrew McCutchen, CF

4. Garrett Jones, RF

5. Casey McGehee, 1B

6. Pedro Alvarez, 3B

7. Rod Barajas, C

8. Clint Barmes, SS

9. McDonald, P 

The Pirates were Major League Baseball’s best offense in the month of June – say that again – and scored 13 runs in their latest game against the San Francisco Giants.

It’s nice to be able to watch a game in Miller Park and not expect the Pirates to be blown out of the place.

Tonight’s game starts at 8:10 PM. The two teams meet tomorrow at 7:10 PM and again on Sunday at 2:10 PM before starting a three-game set with the Colorado Rockies.

The Bucs are 11 games over .500 right now and own baseball’s fourth-best record.

Here’s to a strong second half of the season.

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The Pirates used the eighth overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft to select Appel, who was generally ranked between first and third on top draft prospect lists leading up to the event.

The team offered Appel the absolute maximum amount of money available to them thanks to the MLB’s new draft spending rules and limitations without the team losing next year’s first round selection.

I could sit here and turn this into a post about how horrendous the new draft spending rules are – and, believe me, I’d like to – but it’s not worth the time. The rules are exactly as bad as we thought they were going to be.

Bud Selig trying to explain that the rules were to ensure the best players went to the worst teams is as a big a joke as it was when he said it. Not only did one of the top ranked prospects fall to eighth overall, but the team who did draft him couldn’t sign him because of new budget limitations.

But, hey, it makes sense to Selig.

In past years, the Pirates surely would have thrown more money Appel’s way.

I don’t understand how it makes more sense for the Texas Rangers to be allowed to throw $108 million at 25-year-old international pitcher Yu Darvish, but the Pirates are no longer allowed to spend $10-17 million on an entire crop of draft prospects.

I said I wasn’t going to talk about how bad the rules are, so I’ll stop there.

This hardly hurts the team’s minor league system. The Pirates still have future aces Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon in double- and single-A, respectively, as well as Luis Heredia who is pitching in State College this season.

The Pirates will receive the ninth overall pick in the 2013 draft as compensation for not signing Appel.

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In his fourth MLB season, the 25-year-old McCutchen is hitting .362/.414/.625 as the All-Star break officially begins. McCutchen leads the major leagues in batting average – by almost 10 points – and total bases, leads the National League in slugging percentage and ranks second to only Joey Votto in OPS, while his 18 home runs place him fourth.

Quite a year he’s having.

In fact, McCutchen is having an MVP-worthy year, according to ESPN’s Jayson Stark and Dave Schoenfield, who each called No. 22 the Most Valuable Player in the NL for the first half of the season.

Tonight, McCutchen has a very good chance to set the Pittsburgh Pirates record for home runs in a Home Run Derby.

Since it was introduced in 1985, the Bucs have only had three players participate in the Derby: Bobby Bonilla in 1990, Barry Bonds in 1992 and Jason Bay in 2005.

As if that weren’t embarrassing enough, those three players have combined for a whopping two home runs during the event.

Yes, two.

Bonilla and Bay each went homerless while Bonds hit two out of Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

While he may not be your average home run derby participant and is the odds-on favorite to finish last tonight, three home runs shouldn’t be too many for McCutchen to knock out of Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

He enters the game on a bit of a hot streak power-wise, as he knocked out his 17th and 18th homers of the season yesterday, giving him three home runs in his last six games, four in his last nine and five in his last eleven.

Here are the rest of the Derby participants and their odds according to Vegas:

Jose Bautista – 3/1

Robinson Cano – 7/2

Prince Fielder – 7/2

Mark Trumbo – 5/1

Matt Kemp – 6/1

Carlos Beltran – 6/1

Carlos Gonzalez – 6/1

McCutchen – 9/1

I’m taking Beltran as my pick to win it all.

I have no secret tips or information that led me to make that pick. Just a feeling.

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Twenty-three-year-old center Jordan Staal‘s contract was set to expire after the 2012-13 season and he didn’t seem intent on signing a long-term deal to remain in Pittsburgh.

One-third of the “Three Center Model”that helped win the city a Stanley Cup in 2009 was going to bolt the town in a year at best, but it was alright.

Shero had it all planned out.

A day after Staal rejected a 10-year, $60 million contract extension offer from the Penguins, Shero traded the Thunder Bay native to the Carolina Hurricanes. That was a few hours before dealing defenseman Zbynek Michalek back to the Phoenix Coyotes for some prospects  who will likely never make the NHL roster in what was a clear salary dump.

The moves combined to free up $8 million in cap space for the Penguins. Combine that with the $7 million or so difference between the current temporary cap ($70.2 million) and last season’s cap ($63 million), and the Penguins had about $15 million to spend on a free agent forward/defenseman combination after a first round playoff exit to end the 2011-12 season left both the front office and fans more than disappointed.

This summer, former 45-goal winger and New Jersey Devils captain Zach Parise remained without a contract, while Nashville Predators Ryan Suter found himself in the same situation.

With enough cash to do it, Shero and the Penguins went hard after both players.

After all, what kind of moron would turn down the chance to play alongside the two greatest hockey players in the world and create the NHL’s version of the Miami Heat?

Apparently, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter are each that kind of moron.

After days of deliberation, both players turned down lucrative long-term deals from Pittsburgh to become irrelevant- er, sign – with the Minnesota Wild.

We fans can sit and talk about the monstrous opportunity each of those players has missed out on, but it’s over and done with. Time to move on.

Move on to what, exactly? Move on to Plans B through G to fill at least the void on Sidney Crosby‘s wing(s).

Plenty of names are being tossed around the rumor mill as potential fits in Pittsburgh, but I’ll highlight the six most likely candidates: free agents Alexander Semin and Shane Doan, as well as contracted players Bobby Ryan, Rich Nash, Jarome Iginla and Devin Setoguchi.

If I’m Ray Shero, my first target is Iginla. Even at age 35, Iginla can play. The Calgary Flames captain is one season removed from an 86-point season and is in the final year of a contract with a $7 million cap hit. Calgary isn’t near competing for a Stanley Cup – and won’t be if they keep signing Dennis Wideman-types to deals like this. The Penguins are loaded with top blue line prospects and could certainly afford to part with one of them to bring in a player of Iginla’s caliber…

Or Rick Nash. Nash’s contract carries a $7.8 million cap hit for the next six years, which is $300k more than Parise will makes. Sure it’s an overpayment for the 28-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets captain, but pairing him with Crosby rather than Derrick Brassard could surely mean a huge production boost. The two played on Team Canada’s top line -with none other than Iginla – when the Canadians took Gold in the 2010 Olympics.

Unfortunately, word around the internet says the San Jose Sharks offered up impact forwards Joe Pavelski, Ryan Clowe and a first-round draft pick for Nash, only to have the offer rejected. That’s more than the Penguins could throw at the Blue Jackets, though Columbus may be more interested in Pittsburgh’s defensive prospect depth than NHL-ready forwards.

Bobby Ryan has expressed interest in heading to Philadelphia – the hockey market closest to his native Cherry Hill, New Jersey – while the Wild may look to keep Setoguchi around with their plans to copmete in the short-term. Neither player can officially be ruled out of a trade to Pittsburgh, though.

Finally, there are free agents Semin and Doan. The Penguins reportedly offered Semin a four-year contract with an average value of $4.5 million.

At age 28, Semin would be 32 years old by the end of that deal. I am by no means an Alex Semin fan, though the potential move has grown on my a bit as I’ve reviewed the Russian’s numbers – he led the Capitals in takeaways last season. I wouldn’t mind a one- or -two-year “tryout” deal for Semin, expecially if the Pens could land another gritty, responsible winger for Crosby’s other side. Say…

Shane Doan. While I believe Doan’s offensive talents are vastly overrated, there’s no denying the rest of what he brings to the table in terms of leadership, grit and experience. A potential Crosby / Doan combination could be defensively sufficient enough to offset Semin’s liabilities.

Though still searching for another defenseman, the Penguins have the cap space and/or trade pieces to bring in another impact winger or two.

Now they need to do it. While Sidney Crosby alone is enough to turn any line into one of the best in the NHL, there’s no reason to let $10+ million in cap space go to waste when it can be spent upgrading the team.

I expect Shero and the front office to reel in one or two of these wingers along with a shutdown defenseman in the near future to cap off what will be considered one of the more disappointing offseasons in recent memory.

The deal, worth $4.6 million, carries a manageable cap hit of $2.3 million and prevents Niskanen from becoming a free agent tomorrow at noon.

The 25-year-old will receive a decent raise over his $1.75 million salary last season.

Niskanen recorded four goals and 21 points with a plus-9 rating in 75 games last year.

The move leaves the Penguins with just over $12 million to spend heading into the first day of free agency tomorrow, with 11 forwards and six defensemen under contract.

Much of that remaining cap is expected to go toward signing an impact free agent or two. The team’s top targets happen to be the top free agents on the market: winger Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter. Another cap-clearing move (likely trading Paul Martin and his $5 million cap hit) would probably be required to bring in both players.

The Penguins have more than enough defensemen who are nearly ready to contribute at the NHL level that signing Niskanen to a long-term contract is likely not in the team’s plans.

Simon Despres, Joe Morrow, Scott Harrington, Derrick Pouliot and Olli Maatta were all selected by the Penguins in the first or second rounds of the Entry Draft and are all expected to become impact defensemen in the NHL in the near future.

Despres, drafted 30th overall in 2009, played in 18 games with the Penguins last season, recording  four points and a plus-five rating. I expect him to make the big club out of training camp this season.

Niskanen will play the role of an average second pairing defenseman until the Penguins’ group of young guns are ready to take on full-time roles.

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The deal, worth $104.4 million over 12 years, carries an annual cap hit of $8.7 million – the exact same hit the Penguins have been paying Crosby since he re-signed with the team in 2007. Since Crosby’s current contract doesn’t expire until after next season, he can’t officially sign the deal until this Sunday, though the deal is all but official and has already been announced by the team via text alert and website.

Now for some analysis.

At first glance, the deal is a great one for the Penguins.

On second glance, it’s still a great one.

How’s that for analysis? Sidney Crosby contract

It’s actually pretty simple. Sidney Crosby’s market value? $14.04 million per year, only because the current Collective Bargaining Agreement states a player can make no more than 20% of a team’s salary cap. With the current temporary cap at $70.2 million as agreed upon by the players and owners, Sid could have witnessed 30 teams lining up to pay him $14.04 million per year had he decided to test free agency after the 2012-13 season.

Simple math tells us Crosby’s $8.7 million hit is about 62 percent of what he could be making.

Can anyone imagine the face of another sport taking such a break with the intentions of leaving enough of the salary cap to help his team put together the best possible squad? For a quick comparison, when LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh inked their megadeals with the Miami Heat in 2010, each player sacrificed about $15 million of a potential $125 million deal – a 12 percent discount.

The most intriguing part of Crosby’s deal, though, is realized when analyzing how it will affect the rest of the National Hockey League.

How on Earth is any player going to ask for – let alone receive - more money annually than the best player in the world? Sid has essentially set a soft individual player cap of about $9 million, which probably won’t be popular with the NHLPA.

One of the players sure to be affected by this unwritten cap will be fellow Penguin Evgeni Malkin, whose current contract expires on July 1, 2014. Malkin currently carries the same cap hit as Crosby. I won’t be surprised if the Russian looks for (and receives) something in the $9-10 million range from the Penguins when the time comes, though that would also be a steal considering he’s one of four players who could command the full 20% of a team’s cap.

Of course, with talk of Sidney Crosby comes the unavoidable  talk of concussion issues. While nobody can predict with any sort of certainty what Crosby’s – or for that matter, any player’s – future holds health-wise, there is certainly a risk in inking Crosby to a deal of this term.

Note: I’ve read several different policies regarding insuring contracts. I’ve heard some say teams can insure a contract up to eight years, while others are convinced a deal can only be insured in two-year pieces, so I won’t comment on that

The only bit of information we have on Crosby’s future health is this statement from agent Pat Brisson via the Penguins website:

“He’s been training in Los Angeles. He’s feeling great,” Brisson said. “Since he came back at the end of the regular season and playoffs he felt really good. He’s been training hard and feeling really well. Compared to last summer it’s been night and day, very encouraging.”

That’s, well, encouraging. He didn’t seem to have any problems after his second comeback last season, so let’s hope for the best.

In the meantime, we Pens fans have something else to hope for: Sunday marks July 1 and the beginning of free agency: the earliest GM Ray Shero and company can attempt to lure winger Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter to The Burgh.

With about $14.5 million in cap available at the moment and at least one other salary expected to come off the books via trade (Paul Martin and his $5 million per year), watching both Parise and Suter sign deals that keep them in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future is by no means a stretch.

At least we know they won’t be asking for $9 million per year.

Thanks, Sid.