The Pittsburgh Pirates inked pitcher Paul Maholm to a three-year deal that includes an club option for a fourth year on Thursday. Maholm is guaranteed $14.5 million: $3.5 million this season, $4.5 million next season and $5.75 million in 2011. He also has a $9.75 million club option for 2012, which could be his first free agency year. The buyout for that option is $750,000.

Pretty decent salary for Maholm as long as he stays injury free and can get over 10 wins for the club.

The team also finalized the contract with Eric Hinske that we blogged about yesterday.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a new guy ont he roster as Eric Hinske has agreed on a one-year contract for the 2009 season. Hinske will be making $1.5 million for the year. Hinske will still have to pass a physical before the contract is final but all points point to him being the newest member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Many were expecting the deal to be announced on Friday but it looks like they got it done a day early pending the physical. I like the signing for the Bucs as Hinske can be a pretty decent hitter from the left side.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed Adam LaRoche to a $7 million dollar contract for the 2009 season as both parties avoided salary arbitation. Excuse me, I think $7 million for LaRoche is way more then he should be making. LaRoche in my opinions should be more in the $4-$5 million per year range. No wonder why the Pirates can’t compete, they are wasting a ton of money on players like LaRoche.

We will have an update when the Pirates hopefully sign the other guys that filed for salary arbitration.

Pirates Blog