"Be the first on your block, etc." - PIRATES SIGN ALVEREZ!..

Just minutes before the midnight deadline too!

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The Pittsburgh Pirates today announced they have agreed to terms with
third baseman Pedro Alvarez, the club's first-round selection (second
overall) in the 2008 June draft. The announcement was made by Neal
Huntington, Pirates Senior Vice President and General Manager.

Alvarez, 21, is considered the top prospect in this year's draft by
many industry publications. Baseball America ranked Alvarez as the top
prospect in its 2008 Draft Preview Edition's Top 200 List. It also
ranked the left-handed hitting third baseman as the "Best Power
Hitter" among college players.

"Pedro Alvarez is an accomplished college hitter with the potential to
be a middle of the order bat at the major league level for us. Equally
important, he is a quality young man who comes from a very strong
family. We appreciate their trust in the Pirates organization," said
Huntington. "Pedro is a high-end talent. We are excited to add him to
our system and about the potential impact he can have."

The 6'2", 225-pound Alvarez hit .329 with a school record 22 home runs
and 64 RBI in his first year at Vanderbilt while being named the
Southeast Conference Freshman-of-the-Year and the National
Freshman-of-the-Year by numerous industry outlets, including Baseball
America, Collegiate Baseball and Rivals.com. As a sophomore Alvarez
hit .386 with 18 home runs and 68 RBI while being named a first-team
All-American by Baseball America, Rivals.com and the National
Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. Alvarez was also named the
SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player after hitting .542 in the
tournament.

In 40 games with Vanderbilt University during his junior season,
Alvarez batted .317 with 15 doubles, nine home runs and 30 RBI in 167
at bats. Despite missing 23 games during the season with a broken
hamate bone in his right hand, Alvarez tied the all-time school career
home run record with 49.

Pedro was also selected to the USA National Team twice during his
collegiate career. In 2006, he captured the Gold Medal in the FISU
World Championship by leading the team with a .379 average to go along
with five home runs, 12 doubles and 43 RBI in 31 games. In 2007,
Alvarez led Team USA in batting average (.315), hits (40), home runs
(7), RBI (30), total bases (70) and slugging percentage (.551), while
winning the Silver Medal at the Pan Am Games and finishing third at
the World Port Tournament.

"Bob Nutting has made a commitment to provide the club with the tools
and resources necessary to return the Pirates to the greatness that
this organization has achieved so often in its rich history. He has
further demonstrated that commitment by his active involvement
throughout this process and by providing us with the significant
dollars necessary to sign Pedro Alvarez," said Pirates President Frank
Coonelly. "We had to reach to sign Pedro and Bob was fully supportive
of our decision that this was the right player with whom to reach.
Adding a player of Pedro's ability to our core group of young players
is an important step in reaching our goal of building a championship
organization. We greatly appreciate the faith that Pedro and his
family have placed in the Pirates organization and we look forward to
seeing Pedro in a Pirates uniform in the near future."

One of the top baseball prospects in the nation at Horace Mann High
School in New York, Alvarez was the Gatorade and Louisville Slugger
New York High School Player-of-the-Year in 2005. He helped lead Horace
Mann to the 2004 Ivy League Championship and holds the school and
career records in batting average, home runs, RBI, slugging
percentage, walks and on-base percentage.

After his distinguished high school career, Alvarez was selected by
the Boston Red Sox in the 14th round of the 2005 First Year Player
Draft but decided to pursue his education at Vanderbilt University.