July 20th — The rumor mill keeps on turning as always, but this rumor may just turn out to be fact. It was announced today by Jason Grilli that he will be signing a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Grilli posted on his Twitter account (@GrillCheese49), “Black & Yellow! Black & Yellow! Black & Yellow! Cannot wait to join the new squadron”, followed by, “Of course I can’t sleep. Fired Up!!! Most gratifying call yet. Yo Adrian! WE DID IT!!! #flyinghigh #Pirates”. Now seeing as many players in any given sport tend to jump the gun a bit with their posts on Twitter (see Reggie Bush tweet during NFL Draft), some people may assume this might not really happen. However, the web has been flooded with leaks from the Pirates that he has been signed, pending a physical examination.

Many baseball analysts are also reporting that the signing of Jason Grilli is a precursor to the the replacement of Chris Leroux on the Pittsburgh roster as a Relief Pitcher, even though Grilli is coming from the Philadelphia Phillies Triple-A club, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

We will just have to wait and see where Grilli does find himself in the Pirates organization. But for now, here is a summary of Jason Grilli’s professional carrer so far…

1994: Drafted in twenty-fourth round by New York Yankees, turned down to attend Seton Hall University

1997: Drafted number four overall by San Francisco Giants

1998: Double-A Shreveport Captains – 7-10, 123.1 IP, 3.79 ERA, 37BB, 100K

1998-1999: Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies – 9-8, 142.2 IP, 5.44 ERA, 57BB, 113K

1999: Moved from San Francisco Giants to Florida Marlins

1999-2000: Triple-A Calgary Cannons – 2-9, 82.1 IP, 7.45 ERA, 46BB, 48K

2000-2001: Florida Marlins – 3-2, 33.1 IP, 5.98 ERA, 13BB, 20K

2001: RL GCL Marlins – 0-0, 4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 0BB, 6K

2001: Advanced-A Brevard County Manatees – 2-0, 13.2 IP, 1.98 ERA, 5BB, 14K

2001: Double-A Portland Sea Dogs – 0-1, 4.0 IP, 2.25 ERA, 0BB, 3K

2001-2002: Triple-A Calgary Cannons – 1-3, 52.2 IP, 14.7 ERA, 23BB, 43K

2003: Advanced-A Jupiter Hammerheads – 4-2, 42.2 IP, 2.53 ERA, 6BB, 30K

2003: Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes – 6-2, 66.2 IP, 3.38 ERA, 30BB, 38K

2004: Moved from Florida Marlins to Chicago White Sox

2004: Triple-A Charlotte Knights – 9-9, 152.2 IP, 4.83 ERA, 58BB, 101K

2004: Chicago White Sox – 2-3, 45.0 IP, 7.40 ERA, 20BB, 26K

2005: Moved from Chicago White Sox to Detriot Tigers

2005-2008: Detroit Tigers – 8-8, 171.1 IP, 4.31 ERA, 74BB, 108K

2006: Participated in World Series with Detroit Tigers

2008: Moved from Detroit Tigers to Colorado Rockies

2008-2009: Colorado Rockies – 3-3, 80.2 IP, 3.70 ERA, 44BB, 81K, 2 SV

2009: Double-A Frisco RoughRiders – 0-0, 1.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1BB, 1K

2009: Moved from Colorado Rockies to Cleveland Indians

2010: Knee Injury during Spring Training with Indians, Misses Full 2010 Season

2011: Moves from Cleveland Indians to Philadelphia Phillies

2011: Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs – 4-1, 32.2 IP, 1.93 ERA, 12BB, 43K, 3 SV

2011: Released by Philadelphia Phillies, Reported Signing with Pittsburgh Pirates