"The Pirates moved fast to find a starting catcher and today signed veteran Rod Barajas to a one-year, $4 million contract. The deal includes a $3.5 million club option for 2013 with no buyout.

"They were very aggressive and definitely showed they wanted me to be part of their team," Barajas said.

The Pirates needed to find a new starting catcher after declining the contract options for Chris Snyder and Ryan Doumit.

"There's no question there was a limited market, free agent-wise," general manager Neal Huntington said. "We determined our best course of action was to be aggressive with a guy we wanted. Rod likes the fit, we like the fit, and we were able to get it done.""