NAPLES —
As the clock ticked closer to midnight on Monday, Chris Resop began to get nervous.

The Barron Collier High graduate was waiting to see whether the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team he went 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA in 76 appearances with during the 2011 MLB season, had tendered him a contract for 2012.

The Pirates and every other MLB team had until 11:59 p.m. Monday to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players like Resop and six of his teammates.

At 11:55 p.m., Resop finally got the message he had been waiting for when his agent texted him and informed him that the team had tendered him a contract.

“My agent read it on Twitter and let me know,” Resop said with a laugh. “All (seven) of the guys (who were arbitration eligible) found out that way. I don’t have a Twitter so I didn’t know.

“It’s a relief. My family and I are happy to be going back to Pittsburgh.”

The tender means the right-handed relief pitcher will avoid free agency and, unless he is traded, will be back in his role in the Pirates’ bullpen.

Resop’s wait may have been caused by the Pirates’ brass working on a trade that sent relief pitcher Jose Veras to the Milwaukee Brewers for third baseman Casey McGehee.

“They may have been trying to get that trade wrapped up before making any (arbitration) decisions, who knows?” Resop said. “It’s nice to be going back to a familiar city.”

Players and their agents have the next few weeks to discuss potential salary figures with teams. Any player who was been tendered a contract and is still unsigned on Jan. 18 will exchange desired salary figures with his team. Arbitration hearings will then be scheduled during the first three weeks of February for any player that still has not come to an agreement.

Resop is hoping to avoid arbitration at all costs. The hearings could fall after Pirates pitchers and catchers are due to report for spring training in Bradenton.

“I don’t think it’s going to take that long,” Resop said of getting a contract finalized. “Nobody wants to go to arbitration. It’s something you just don’t want to worry about.”

Resop and his family will be doing some fundraising work with the Pediatric Cancer Foundation prior to the 2012 baseball season.

Resop’s wife, Kara, will be competing in the Naples Daily News Half Marathon on Jan. 15 at Cambier Park.

The Resops are looking for people to sponsor Kara’s run by making donations, big or small, to the Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

Donations can be made through the Diamond Dust LLC, care of Chris Resop at P.O. Box 275, Naples, FL, 34106. Receipts are available upon request for tax purposes.

“Any donation is great because 100 percent of it goes to pediatric cancer research,” Chris Resop said. “There are so many different circumstances out there with children’s cancer that just aren’t fair. Kara has run the half marathon a couple times but this is a little more meaningful to us.”

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a $9.75 million option for starting pitcher Paul Maholm(notes) next season. While the team does “not plan on paying” him that kind of cash next year, the Pirates have “still not entirely ruled out that option being exercised,” according to MLB.com.

Keeping the option available “allows the Pirates to retain some leverage in case a trade partner emerges this month,” the site points out.

If the option isn’t picked up for the pitcher that went 6-14 with a 3.66 ERA before going on the 60-day disabled list with a strained left shoulder in mid-August, the team owes him $750,000.

Maholm, drafted by the Pirates in 2003, has been with the big club since 2005, going 53-73 with a 4.36 ERA.

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Source: MLB.com

Related: Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates started the season strong but finished in fourth place in the National League Central, 24 games behind the division-winning Milwaukee Brewers.

Along the way, they picked up first baseman Derrek Lee(notes) from the Baltimore Orioles. He hit .337 with seven homers and 18 RBIs in 28 games for the Pirates. He’ll soon be a free agent and it isn’t clear if he is aiming to stick around in Steeltown or head elsewhere.

What is clear, though, is that the team will attempt to re-sign Lee, according to PittsburghPirates.com. “The club realizes it lacks in options at first base, and Lee showed (when he was healthy) how substantial an impact he can have in the middle of this Pirates lineup,” the site reports. “The organization is willing to make a competitive offer to try and convince Lee to stay, but no one seems to have much inkling as to whether Lee is interested in seriously entertaining that option.”

The 36-year-old is a two-time All-Star who was the National League batting champion in 2005 when he was with the Chicago Cubs. He’s also won three Gold Gloves and helped the 2003 Florida Marlins win a World Series. Lee has also spent time with the San Diego Padres, the team that drafted him, and Atlanta Braves. “Lee did leave the door open to retirement,” the site reports.

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Source: PittsburghPirates.com

Related: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates

Presley reached four times and scored twice as Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak. Josh Harrison doubled, singled and scored twice.

“It was a good team win,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We had some guys throw some things in from top to bottom today.”

Burres (1-0), who was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday, allowed one run and five hits over 5 1-3 innings. The left-hander started on short notice after Jeff Karstens was scratched with what the team is calling “fatigue.”

“(Burres) did a very professional job,” Hurdle said. “He’s pitched in the big leagues before so he wasn’t overwhelmed with anything. I thought he kept the ball down especially well today.”

It’s been a rough season for Burres, who went 4-5 with a 4.99 ERA in 20 games, 13 starts, for Pittsburgh last year. He had a 5-9 record and a 4.66 ERA with Indianapolis when he was promoted.

“I was anxious for Brian’s start,” Hurdle said. “To go down as he did, as professional as he did, start after start. Never a complaint. Hard work. Gets the opportunity and comes up here and pitches. To end up five-plus (innings) with one run on the day, that’s just good stuff.”

The 30-year-old Burres said it was nice to get a win in his return to the majors.

“I’ve been feeling good the last couple of weeks and it’s good to just carry that feeling into my start today,” he said.

“Most of the day I just tried to throw strikes and let my defense do the work.”

Four Pirates relievers combined for 3 2-3 perfect innings, with Joel Hanrahan picking up his 33rd save in 36 chances. Jason Grilli got the last two outs of the sixth, Chris Leroux pitched the seventh and Jose Veras worked the eighth before Hanrahan struck out two in the ninth.

Carlos Pena went deep for the Cubs, who have lost nine of 12. The first baseman now has at least 25 homers in five straight seasons and six times overall in his career.

“I said this before, just the fact that I’ve been able to hit one in the big leagues is a blessing to me and I’m very grateful for it, let alone hit so many,” Pena said.

Ryan Dempster (10-11) worked out of a couple of early jams and held Pittsburgh to three runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. He struck out nine, two shy of his season best, and threw a season-high 121 pitches.

“I tried to survive those first couple innings, they fouled off a lot of pitches,” Dempster said. “I was able to get out there and get into the seventh.”

Pena connected in the second, hitting a drive to the deepest part of center field to give the Cubs the lead.

“That pitch I just left up a little bit and he did a good job of hitting hit hard,” Burres said.

Pittsburgh responded with two in the third. Presley led off with a triple off the right-field wall and Harrison followed with a single to right. Garrett Jones added a two-out RBI double.

“You just try to see pitches and get on base,” Presley said. “I was familiar with Dempster from the last time facing him so I tried to be a little more aggressive.”

Neither team mounted much offense after that. The Cubs stranded two runners in the third and fourth. The Pirates didn’t threaten again until Presley’s one-out triple in the seventh chased Dempster. Presley scored on Jose Tabata’s two-out single off Kerry Wood.

Presley became the first Pirate to record two triples in a game since Andrew McCutchen on June 8, 2009. He has five triples on the season.

“Presley ignited us at the top, stayed on base and made some things happen,” Hurdle said. “Harrison gave us some life.”

The only damper on the day for the Pirates came when McCutchen was hit in the left hand in the first inning. He remained in the game to run the bases, but was replaced by Tabata before the Cubs batted in the bottom half.

The team said McCutchen does not have a fracture and is listed as day to day.

NOTES: The Cubs promoted 1B Bryan LaHair from Triple-A Iowa. LaHair’s 38 home runs for Iowa were leading the minor leagues. . The Cubs announced that RHP Carlos Zambrano will not pitch for them again this season, even though his time on the disqualified list expires on Sept. 11. . Pirates 1B Derrek Lee (left wrist) took batting practice and the team hopes to activate him from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday if all goes well. . The Cubs will send RHP Casey Coleman to the hill on Saturday to face Pittsburgh RHP Ross Ohlendorf. Coleman has an 11.34 ERA in 19 2-3 innings at Wrigley Field this season.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Brian Burres pitched into the sixth in his first start of the season and Alex Presley had two triples, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Friday.

Presley reached four times and scored twice as Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak. Josh Harrison doubled, singled and scored twice.

Burres (1-0) allowed one run and five hits over 5 1-3 innings. The left-hander was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.

Four Pirates relievers combined for 3 2-3 perfect innings, with Joel Hanrahan picking up his 33rd save in 36 chances. Jason Grilli got the last two outs of the sixth, Chris Leroux pitched the seventh and Jose Veras worked the eighth before Hanrahan struck out two in the ninth.

Carlos Pena went deep for the Cubs, who have lost nine of 12. The first baseman now has at least 25 homers in five straight seasons and six times overall in his career.

Ryan Dempster (10-11) worked out of a couple of early jams and held Pittsburgh to three runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. He struck out nine, two shy of his season best, and threw a season-high 121 pitches.

Pena connected in the second, hitting a drive to the deepest part of center field to give the Cubs the lead.

Pittsburgh responded with two in the third. Presley led off with a triple off the right-field wall and Harrison followed with a single to right. Garrett Jones added a two-out RBI double.

Neither team mounted much offense after that. The Cubs stranded two runners in the third and fourth. The Pirates didn’t threaten again until Presley’s one-out triple in the seventh chased Dempster. Presley scored on Jose Tabata’s two-out single off Kerry Wood.

Presley became the first Pirate to record two triples in a game since Andrew McCutchen on June 8, 2009. He has five triples on the season.

Fielding woes have plagued the Cubs, who entered with a major league-leading 114 errors and added two more on Friday. That doesn’t include a miscue in the first when Harrison’s grounder to shortstop Starlin Castro was misplayed into a rare infield double when the Cubs failed to cover second base.

McCutchen was hit in the left wrist area in the first inning. He remained in the game to run the bases, but was replaced by Tabata before the Cubs batted in the bottom half.

NOTES: The Cubs promoted 1B Bryan LaHair from Triple-A Iowa. LaHair’s 38 home runs for Iowa were leading the minor leagues. . Cubs RHP Andrew Cashner (right rotator cuff sprain) pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab outing for Iowa. Manager Mike Quade said Cashner reached 99 mph with his fastball and the club is hopeful he will return to the big leagues next week. . The Cubs announced that RHP Carlos Zambrano will not pitch for them again this season, even though his time on the disqualified list expires on Sept. 11. . RHP Jeff Karstens (shoulder), who was scratched from his scheduled start Friday, played catch but is likely to miss more than just this start, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. . Pirates 1B Derrek Lee (left wrist) took batting practice and the team hopes to activate him from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday if all goes well. . The Cubs will send RHP Casey Coleman to the hill on Saturday to face Pittsburgh RHP Ross Ohlendorf. Coleman has an 11.34 ERA in 19 2-3 innings at Wrigley Field this season.

PITTSBURGH — Gerrit Cole got his first look at PNC Park on Saturday. The Pittsburgh Pirates say they’re in no rush to put this year’s overall No. 1 draft pick on the mound there anytime soon.

“The last thing we want to do is rush this process,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re intelligent about it. We’ve got a long time that Gerrit is going to be a successful pitcher in this organization. We’ve got to make sure we go about it the right way.”

Cole agreed to a deal Monday night that included an $8 million signing bonus. The right-hander pitched three years at UCLA.

Huntington said he’s seen it all too often with promising young players — particularly pitchers — who get placed on too much of a fast track to the majors. He vowed to resist that temptation with Cole.

“There’s some great examples of success, and there’s some tragic examples of failure,” Huntington said. “We’re trying to work toward the success side.

“We’re definitely looking to build Gerrit to where he’s ready to attack a 200-plus innings workload at the major-league level, but history is littered with guys who tackle that 200-inning count before they’re ready physically,” he said.

For now, Cole will report to the Pirates’ spring-training complex in Bradenton, Fla. Full Story

Johnson: Pudge could return to Nationals

The Nationals could bring Ivan Rodriguez back to the team for 2012, manager Davey Johnson told MLB.com.

Rodriguez, currently out with injury, isn’t expected to return to the team before September, clearing up playing time for new backstop Jesus Flores, who is 26 years old and far more relevant to the Nats’ future. Rodriguez is hitting .214/.276/.325 this season in 129 plate appearances. It’s by far the worst offensive showing in his career, and I-Rod is set to also mark a career low in games played, currently at just 39 with a previous low of 88… set in his first season as a 19-year-old.

“Anybody would be crazy not to have [Rodriguez] back,” Johnson said. “He is a tremendous talent. He has been great here this year. He is fun to have around. He can hit, he can catch, he can throw and he adds to our depth at catching. He is a valuable asset. It just depends on the roster and what goes on over the winter and what our needs are.”

Despite the ringing endorsement, Johnson did admit that Rodriguez’s return will depend on Flores, who was drafted in the Rule 5 draft before 2007 and hit .244/.310/.361 that season. He also saw 90 games worth of time in 23 and was off to a great start in 2009 as a 24-year-old, hitting .301/.371/.505 through 106 PA before injuring himself and missing the rest of the 2009 season, as well as 2010. He’s finally back in action, though, and was recently promoted back to the majors where he is at .244/.295/.390 through 16 games.

Pirates’ Maholm on DL

PITTSBURGH — Pirates left-hander Paul Maholm is on the disabled list for the first time, sidelined by a shoulder strain.

Maholm has lost four straight starts and five consecutive decisions, and Pittsburgh is 0-7 in games he started since the All-Star break. Over his past four outings, Maholm’s ERA has climbed a half-run to 3.66. He has allowed 17 earned runs and 31 hits in 22 2/3 innings.

The Pirates recalled rookie left-handed reliever Tony Watson from Triple-A Indianapolis. Watson was 0-2 with a 2.73 ERA in 25 appearances earlier this season.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle says he hasn’t worked out his upcoming rotation, including a doubleheader on Monday. Brad Lincoln, currently in the bullpen, and Ross Ohlendorf, who began the season in the rotation but is in Indianapolis, are potential options.

Twins scratch Nishioka

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Twins shortstop Tsuyoshi Nishioka has been taken out of the team’s lineup because of back spasms.

Nishioka was slated to bat ninth against the New York Yankees. The Twins announced the change about an hour before first pitch. Matt Tolbert was inserted at shortstop in his place.

Nishioka’s first season with the Twins has been rough. He is hitting just .217 with five extra-base hits in 203 at-bats, plus 10 errors. He missed 59 games after breaking his lower left leg in the first week of the season. He was the batting champion in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball last year.

Second base umpire Brian O’Nora also was declared out for the game due to a personal medical matter, leaving a three-man crew to work the game.

Rockies boot Hammel from rotation

Jason Hammel has been dropped from Colorado’s starting rotation in lieu of Alex White, the team announced.

Hammel’s demotion is unsurprising, as the 28-year-old’s wheels have fallen off over the last three months. After two successful seasons with the Rockies after coming over from the Rays and lining up 2011 as another solid year, Hammel has instead thrown up a 7.24 ERA over his last 12 starts. He’s shown no signs of turning it around either, with a 9.24 ERA over his last four starts, including a three-inning stinker against the Dodgers on Friday when Hammel coughed up six runs.

Alex White, who was acquired from the Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade in the midst of rehabbing from an injury, will make his Rockies debut by sliding into Hammel’s spot on Tuesday, with Hammel headed to the bullpen.

“I worked tirelessly to figure this out,” Hammel said after Friday’s start to the Associated Press. “Obviously, I’m not fulfilling expectations right now. It’s very disappointing to me and of course, the whole organization, too. Point the finger at me for holding this organization back right now. If we want to get going in the right direction, I need to figure it out.”