McCutchen, 29, has pitched to a 4.77 ERA in 188 2/3 innings in parts of four seasons with the Pirates. He was acquired by the Buccos along with Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf and Jose Tabata in 2008 as part of the trade that sent Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees. McCutchen has totaled a 3.66 ERA, 6.8 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 403 1/3 Triple-A innings.

Meyer, 31, last appeared in the big leagues in 2010 with the Marlins. The southpaw was once traded by the Braves along with Juan Cruz and Charles Thomas to the A's in exchange for Tim Hudson. He has a 5.46 ERA in 113 2/3 Major League innings. He's spent the past two seasons pitching for the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate and in independent ball, posting ERAs over 7.00 each year.

Simons, 27, spent last season pitching to a 3.57 ERA between Double-A and Triple-A in the Rockies' organization. He's fanned 7.1 hitters per nine innings over the course of 589 minor league innings but also walked four batters per nine. He was a second-round pick of the Rockies back in 2005, but has also spent time in the Tigers and Marlins organizations.

Meyer appeared in just 13 games for the Marlins last year after posting a 3.09 ERA with 8.6 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 71 appearances for Florida in 2009. The results weren't there in 2010, when Meyer spent most of the season in the minors and spent time on the disabled list with a calf strain. Meyer walked 12 and struck out four in 9 1/3 innings of big league work, though his minor league numbers (2.93 ERA, 7.0 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 46 innings) suggest he's capable of more.

A first round selection of Atlanta's in 2002, Meyer developed into a highly touted prospect. The Braves sent him to Oakland in the Tim Hudson deal and he has since been in the Phillies' and Marlins' organizations. Still just 29, Meyer will provide depth in the minors for the Pirates.

Langosch also confirmed that the Pirates signed Tim Wood, as MLBTR reported last week.

• Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter) knows that the point has been made before, but he finds it unfathomable that the Giants thought it smart to give $126MM to Barry Zito.
• The Orioles released minor league outfielder Danny Figueroa, tweets Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com.
• The Phillies have released Dan Meyer from their minor league camp, tweets Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.
• Within his Sunday Baseball Notes, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that the Rangers "haven't closed the door" on a Michael Young trade. Cafardo says not to rule out the Phillies, though the Phils are a little more optimistic about Chase Utley's health than they were a couple weeks ago.
• Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says his club has room to add payroll this season "if the right situation develops," according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• WEEI.com's Alex Speier discusses former first round pick Jason Place, who the Red Sox released yesterday.
• In an article for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Terry Pluto takes a look at the Indians' future infield.

• Outfielder Wladimir Balentien is joining the Yakult Swallows in Japan, according to this report passed along on Twitter by NPB Tracker's Patrick Newman.  The 26-year-old hit .282/.337/.536 with 25 home runs in 452 Triple-A plate appearances for the Reds' affiliate.
• The Twins signed 32-year-old outfielder/first baseman Jeff Bailey, reports Seth Stohs.  Bailey hit .289/.387/.462 with 12 home runs in 564 Triple-A plate appearances for the Diamondbacks' affiliate.
• The Twins also signed infielder Chase Lambin, tweets Baseball America's Matt Eddy. The 31-year-old hit .252/.327/.414 with 15 homers in 548 plate appearances for the National's Triple-A affiliate in 2011. He has never played in the the big league, but did spend 2009 in Japan.
• MLB.com's Carrie Muskat reports that Micah Hoffpauir has signed a one-year deal with the Nippon Ham fighters. The 30-year-old hit .251/.312/.421 in 394 plate appearances with the Cubs over the last three seasons.
• The Mariners have signed right-hander Justin Miller according to Eddy (via Twitter). In 24.1 innings with the Dodgers last year, the 33-year-old pitched to a 4.44 ERA with 11.1 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. The Mariners are his ninth organization.
• Seattle also signed shortstop Sean Kazmar, tweets Eddy. He hit .275/.326/.381 for San Diego's Triple-A affiliate this year, and saw some big league action with them back in 2008.
• The Rays signed righty reliever Cory Wade, says Eddy (via Twitter). The 27-year-old had a 2.27 ERA with 6.4 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 71.1 innings for the Dodgers in 2008, but he missed most of 2009 and all of 2010 after having shoulder surgery.
• Eddy tweets that the Athletics have signed outfielder Jai Miller. They lost him on a waiver claim to Kansas City back in April. The 25-year-old hit .252/.326/.490 in Triple-A last year, then .236/.300/.345 in 60 plate appearances with the Royals.
• The White Sox signed third baseman Dallas McPherson, tweets Baseball America's Matt Eddy.  The 30-year-old hit .267/.339/.541 with 22 home runs in 354 plate appearances for Oakland's Triple-A affiliate this year.  He hasn't spent significant time in the bigs since '06.
• The Phillies signed lefty reliever Dan Meyer, reports Bill Evans of the Gloucester County Times (hat tip to Matt Gelb).  The 29-year-old signed with his hometown team after drawing interest from the Giants, Astros, Pirates, Padres, and Twins.  Meyer, a big part of the Tim Hudson trade six years ago, had a strong '09 but was designated for assignment by the Marlins twice this year.  He posted a 3.38 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, and 0.9 HR/9 in 40 Triple-A innings in 2010.

• Many familiar names have been granted free agency, including Ian Snell, Cla Meredith, Micah Owings, Fernando Nieve, Dan Meyer, Ryan Garko, Mike Jacobs, and Jason Bergmann.
• The Royals released reliever Matt Herges. Herges didn't reach the majors this season, but had a solid year in 2009, recording a 3.38 ERA in 30 games between Cleveland and Colorado.
• Yordany Ramirez, a long-time minor league outfielder, was re-signed by the Astros. After struggling as a hitter in three Triple-A seasons, the 26-year-old is being converted to pitching.

FRIDAY: The Marlins will designate Dan Meyer for assignment to make room for Jorge Sosa, according to the team. Meyer, a former first rounder who was part of the Tim Hudson trade, allowed 15 hits and 11 walks in 8.1 innings, striking out four. The 28-year-old left-hander was much more effective last year, when he posted a 3.09 ERA with nearly a strikeout per inning in 71 appearances.

Sosa, a 32-year-old right-hander, has yet to appear in the majors this year. He has been starting at Triple A New Orleans since the Marlins signed him last month. Sosa has a 3.78 ERA in 33.1 innings with 7.0 K/9 and 1.6 BB/9 in the minors.

• ESPN's Jayson Stark ranked baseball's ten-year contracts, with Derek Jeter's soon to be completed ten-year, $189MM deal coming in as the best.
• The Marlins agreed to one-year contracts with 12 of their pre-arbitration eligible players according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, including Sean West, Chris Volstad, Emilio Bonifacio, and Dan Meyer. 
• Brewers owner Mark Attanasio confirmed that he will be involved in long-term contract discussions with Prince Fielder, according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (via Twitter).  Haudricourt also tweets that Attanasio and GM Doug Melvin met today to discuss the situation and there will be no deadlines imposed on the 25-year-old.
• Rich Aurilia, who stopped by the Giants' camp today, says that while he's still looking for a job, he will retire if he doesn't have one by the end of spring, tweets Jeff Fletcher of AOL Fanhouse.  The 38-year-old has a broadcasting deal in place if he is unable to find a job on the field.
• Shin-Soo Choo says that he would like to stay in Cleveland long-term, writes MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince.  Choo, like Morales, cut ties with his former agent (Alan Nero) in favor of Scott Boras.
• Michael Weiner, the executive director of the players' union, confirmed that the union is participating in an investigation into alleged unauthorized withdrawals from Kendry Morales' bank account by a former employee of his former agents, Hendricks Sports Management (Bill Plunkett of the OC Register reporting). Morales recently dropped HSM and hired Scott Boras.
• Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch provides a few quotes from Albert Pujols about his contract situation. "Do I want to do this right now and take care of this so we don't need to worry about it? Of course," said Pujols. "If it happens, it happens. But there are some things I am able to control and there are other things that are out of my hands that I can't control. And that's the truth."
• The Mariners signed righty Tom Wilhelmsen to a minor league contract, according to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times. The 27-year-old had been out of baseball since 2005 because of substance abuse issues, though he resurfaced with an independent league team last season.
• Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker passes along a report indicating the the Orix Buffaloes are moving towards a deal with Freddie Bynum. The White Sox released Bynum last week so he could pursue opportunities in Japan.
• Meanwhile, Joe Strauss of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says that Felipe Lopez will provide the Cardinals with a great amount of flexibility.
• Joel Sherman of The New York Post calls the contracts of Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia and other Yankee players "time-bomb contracts."
• John Tomase of The Boston Herald says the Red Sox have a deep bench with Mike Lowell, Bill Hall, Jeremy Hermida, and Jason Varitek. 

• Look for Dan Meyer to remain with the team, but not to close games.
• Defying conventional wisdom, Frisaro is not convinced both Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla will be traded.
• He believes the Marlins are "a year or so away from making this kind of big-splash signing" in response to a fan wondering if Florida will ink Vladimir Guerrero.

The entire inbox is worth scrolling.

• Jeff Sackmann of the Hardball Times can imagine an excellent Royals team in 2012, but says there's no guarantee we'll see such a thing.
• As MLB.com's Doug Miller shows, cheap, no-name closers can be just as effective as proven commodities.
• Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the addition of Scott Kazmir should help the Angels reach the playoffs once again.
• Tim Hudson and Dan Meyer were traded for each other in 2004. This week, Hudson pitched against Meyer's team for the first time, as MLB.com's Alden Gonzalez reports.
• Jamey Newberg ranks Justin Smoak and Martin Perez ahead of the other Rangers minor leaguers in this week's prospects report for MLB.com.

Meyer, 27, posted a 4.48 ERA in 122.2 minor league innings this year and pitched poorly in 27.2 innings for the A’s.  He had multiple shoulder surgeries since being acquired.

• I’m doing a fantasy baseball mailbag feature at The Hardball Times.  Check out the first entry.
• Nothing really new from Coco Crisp…if he loses the center field battle, he’ll probably prefer a trade.
• The Brewers are close to a minor league deal with Russell Branyan, who might have a hard time sniffing the big league roster anytime this season.
• The Toronto Star relays from J.P. Ricciardi that the Blue Jays no longer have an offer on the table for Shannon Stewart.
• Turns out Oakland’s Dan Meyer has a fourth option, meaning he’s likely to lose the fifth starter battle to Dana Eveland.
• I can’t help it…I love the Juan Gonzalez story.  I’m rooting for him for no apparent reason.
• Mark Teixeira didn’t offer much info regarding extension talks with the Braves.  He did refute that report about building a home in Atlanta and another about a rift with Scott Boras.
• Peter Abraham thinks the Yanks should trade Hideki Matsui.