Tuesday, 12 February 2013 23:55

Written by Bill Brink

BRADENTON, Fla. -- In today's Post-Gazette: Michael Sanserino writes about Russell Martin's decision to join the Pirates.

Other notes from Tuesday:

***Kyle McPherson is healthy. Biceps tendinitis, not a shoulder issue, shortened his time in the Dominican Republic, he said, but he is on schedule now.

He spent the offseason traveling to Bradenton for treatment.

"This is a big year for me," he said. "I want to make sure that I had everything in order for this to proceed further basically. I didn’t want any setbacks whatsoever."

***Manager Clint Hurdle, meeting with the media for the first time this spring, said the team has no specific timetable for Francisco Liriano's return. Liriano said he would be fully healthy in about another month.

Hurdle also said the team had "several candidates" for the final rotation spot, and that because spring training competition and statistics cannot be trusted, he and his staff would use their eyes, watching how well the pitchers hit their spots and such, to make up their minds.

***Fox's Saturday TV schedule features several Pirates games.

***The Pirates were close to signing Brandon Inge to a minor league contract with a spring training invite, according to CBS Sports' Danny Knobler.