From Mike on the listserv, per Dejan's Tweets...

Virgil Vasquez, Eric Hacker and Steve Lerud have been removed from the roster. I imagine Lerud would be resigned primarily for depth.

Also per Mike, via John Perrotto, Hacker and Vasquez can become FAs, while Lerud was outrighted to AA.

They still have more moves to make, so you are not out of the woods yet.

So, gcf, and I will ask you and Scorp this, since they took three guys off the 40 man, who do you think fills those spots? Do you think they fill them internally or externally?

Internally for these, Ascenio and Meek need to go on the roster, and Lincoln, Morris and Gorkys are locks to be added. At least one player will be gone in a few weeks.

Also Aguero is most likely to be added, and it would be un-NH like to pass on the Rule 5. There could be 3 or four more removed. I doubt they sign anyone before the 20th to add to the roster, but if they add someone like Ankeil, they could release Pearce or Moss. Or others that they can send to AAA after clearing waivers.

They have four spots open. Meek and Ascanio will take two of those spots, since they currently are on the 60-day DL and don't count towards the 40-man roster. The final two spots will go to protect guys like Brad Lincoln and Gorkys Hernandez from the Rule 5 draft. They'll still need more spots opened up, since they have a lot of talent eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Here is the list:

ht tp://buccofans.wikispaces.com/Rule+5+Eligible+Players

Personally I'd protect the following:

Brad Lincoln
Gorkys Hernandez
Ramon Aguero
Bryan Morris
Shelby Ford

Maybe Kyle Bloom as well, depending on who they'd be dropping.

That means they need 3-4 more spots, not to mention an extra spot for a Rule 5 pick (which doesn't have to be decided on by November 20th). I'd say the candidates for getting the boot could be:

Luis Cruz
Anthony Claggett
Justin Thomas
Phil Dumatrait
Brian Bixler

Getting rid of those five would allow them to protect the six players I listed above, plus an extra spot for a Rule 5 pick. Of course, they need to rid themselves of extra players if they sign a free agent.

Could someone (like Ankeil) be signed as a minor league free agent with a spring training invite without being added to the roster immediately?

If someone was signed as a minor league free agent, they wouldn't be added to the 40-man until they made the team (likely out of Spring Training). However, if that person was signed before the Rule 5 draft, they'd be eligible to be selected by another team.

Also, I believe minor league deals are one year deals only, which means a guy like Ankiel would probably be passing up an extra year of guaranteed money just to protect a guy on the Pirates' 40-man.

Not to mention, the guy they eventually remove for Ankiel would have to pass through waivers, just as he would if they would sign him to a major league deal. So basically they're delaying the inevitable if they do something like that.

Actually, I think you can have at least an option in a minor league deal. Somone had something like that recently I think. But I have no idea why that would be an option, if you think enough of a player to give him multiple years, why would you not sign him to a major league contract? Or wait to sign him.