"The Pirates will have plenty of roster holes to fill this offseason, but they're not likely to come up with any high-impact solutions in the free-agent market.

Eligible players who do not have contract options for 2012 became free agents overnight. All club, player and mutual contract options must be decided by 11:59 p.m. Monday. Free agents can begin signing with teams at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington's shopping list will be affected by which contract options, if any, the team picks up. The pricey options of Ryan Doumit ($7.25 million for 2012 and $8.25 million for 2013) and Chris Snyder ($6.75 million) will not be exercised, which would seem to make finding a catcher Huntington's top priority."