According to the Pittsburgh Pirates Twitter feed, the Pirates have asked for release waivers on RHP Rick VandenHurk, so he will be allowed to sign with a foreign club. With the move, the 40-man roster now sits at 39 players. That doesn’t include Francisco Liriano, who has yet to officially sign. VandenHurk went 13-5, 2.92 in 21 appearances for Indianapolis last season, 19 as a starter. He also made four appearances for the Pirates in September/October, allowing four runs over 2.2 innings.
The @pirates have asked for release waivers on Rick van den Hurk for the purpose of allowing him to sign with a foreign club.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) January 6, 2013
UPDATE: 1/6 6:40 PM VandenHurk will sign with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization.