Saturday roundup

Two points of interest on this Saturday on which no one is really thinking about the Pirates, Craig Wilson and Oliver Perez.

First off, Craig Wilson signed a $3.5 million deal to avoid arbitration. That's about what everyone thought he was worth. I think that a system where a player can get a half million dollar raise after an injury riddled season like Craig's was last year is stupid, but I do also think it's the system's fault and not the Pirates', at least this time around.

Second is day 2 of Dejan's two day "Flaky Starters of the North Side" series, a minicamp profile of Oliver Perez. Apparently his 0-4, 6.16 ERA performance in Mexico this winter and his word that he feels good are enough to declare that the zip is back on his fastball and the bite is back on his slider. I could be wrong though, Littlefield (who went to Mexico) also seems to be encouraged and Ollie apparently had a very good bullpen session yesterday. I'm not sure there's anything I want to see next year more than the return of the '04 Oliver Perez. I'm also not sure I'll believe it's happening until I see it.

A couple other quick notes from the Perez article, Castillo finally made it to minicamp and was declared healthy, which is good news for him and bad news for Freddy Sanchez. Still, fingers are crossed that maybe this year will be the breakout year from him we've all been hoping for. Mike Gonzalez is wearing a knee brace, supposedly as a preventative measure because of his injury last year. It's still kind of scary, knowing how the Pirates are with truthfullness when it comes to injuries. Also, Yuri DeCaster may join Andruw Jones and co. on the Netherlands for the WBC, assuming that the whole thing happens at all. Oh, and Sean Burnett and JVB threw off the mound again today with huge smiles on their faces again, I'd assume.