"A couple of weeks ago, the Jason Bay trade pretty much went belly-up when Andy LaRoche was cut loose. Of the four players the Pirates got in that swap, only Bryan Morris seems to have any chance at helping the club in the future.

Last night, the deals that sent Adam LaRoche to Boston and Nyjer Morgan to Washington also lost some of their luster. Argenis Diaz (who came from the BoSox) and Lastings Milledge (from the Nats) were non-tendered and became free agents. Neither made much impact in Pittsburgh and neither is likely to be re-signed by the Pirates.

Milledge, 25, began 2010 as the Opening Day starter in left field. He was shifted to right after Jose Tabata was called up, then was demoted to a platoon role due to his poor run production (34 RBI in 113 games) and defensive struggles.

Huntington is open to trying to re-sign Milledge, who made $452,000 this year. But attempts to work out a one-year deal before last night's deadline yielded little progress.

"It was a tough negotiation," GM Neal Huntington said. "As the negotiations went on, we began to explore alternatives. We want to continue to explore those alternatives."

Diaz, 23, hit .242 in 22 games and did little to distinguish himself during his brief time in the majors. With a younger wave of infielders moving up in the Pirates' farm system, Diaz is expendable and will not be re-signed."