Phillies signed OF Juan Pierre to a minor league contract. The deal was reported Friday and has now become official. Pierre batted .279/.329/.327 with two homers, 50 RBI and a .657 OPS over 711 plate appearances in 2011 and also went a career-worst 27-for-44 in stolen base attempts. He's a solid get on a minor league deal, though, and should make the team as an extra outfielder.

Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reports that the Phillies have signed Juan Pierre to a minor league contract. Salisbury reported earlier Friday that the two sides were in serious discussions, and evidently they've closed the deal. Financial terms are not yet known. Pierre batted .279/.329/.327 with two homers, 50 RBI and a .657 OPS over 711 plate appearances in 2011 and also went a career-worst 27-for-44 in stolen base attempts. It's not the best spot for him in terms of how much playing time he's likely to receive, but it will give him a better chance to earn a World Series ring. Pierre figures to back up in left and center field and serve as a pinch runner.

Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly reports that the Phillies are in "serious discussions" with free agent outfielder Juan Pierre regarding a minor league contract. Pierre has evidently given up on finding a regular job somewhere, as he wouldn't appear to be in line for much playing time in Philly, especially after Ryan Howard returns. The 34-year-old batted .279/.329/.327 with two homers, 50 RBI and a .657 OPS over 711 plate appearances in 2011 and also went a career-worst 27-for-44 in stolen base attempts.

To replace Victor Martinez, the Tigers have discussed adding a speedster to the top of the lineup, such as Johnny Damon or Juan Pierre. Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com confirmed Detroit's interest in Damon on Sunday. Damon batted .271/.355/.401 with eight homers and 11 steals in 2010 for Detroit. He would play some DH and also can play some left field should the Tigers choose to use Delmon Young as a DH. Pierre, of course, is a superior defender to both. He was not offered arbitration by the White Sox in November after batting .279/.329/.327 with two homers, 50 RBI and a .657 OPS over 711 plate appearances. The 34-year-old just finished a ridiculous five-year, $44 million contract and won't get anything close to that. A meager one-year offer should get him, however.

Juan Pierre was not offered arbitration by the White Sox. As expected. Pierre, a Type B free agent, finally reached the end of his five-year, $44 million contract in 2011, batting .279/.329/.327 with two homers, 50 RBI and a .657 OPS over 711 plate appearances. He also went a career-worst 27-for-44 in stolen base attempts. The 34-year-old shouldn't have trouble finding a new home, but he may have to settle for a reserve role.

Juan Pierre went 0-for-5 on Wednesday to drop his batting average to .279. Pierre hit at least .280 in nine of his first 10 big-league seasons, but he's been under that in both of his seasons in Chicago. After a strong July and August, he dropped to .257 with just four steals in eight attempts in September. Without Ozzie Guillen in his corner any longer, it doesn't seem likely that Pierre will be re-signed by the White Sox this winter.

Juan Pierre kept hitting on Sunday, going 2-for-3 with a double and run scored in Chicago's 4-2 win over the Indians. Batting .338 in the month of July, Pierre's season average is now all the way up to .276. That's all good and well, but Pierre has still stolen just four bases this month. He needs to be running more if he's to be a legitimate mixed-league option.

Juan Pierre is batting .356 since June 26. Pierre's hot streak has quieted the talk of Dayan Viciedo being called up to replace him, something White Sox GM Kenny Williams and others were pushing for. He's still hitting just .273/.332/.322 for the season and, more disappointingly, has only 15 stolen bases while being caught 11 times. Pierre is a free agent after the season and seems resigned to the fact that he won't be back in Chicago. ''I know how it works,'' he said, ''with young guys being ready and stuff. I would love to be back here because they gave me the chance to play here. But it's out of my control. Whether they think it was a bad trade for getting me or wasted their time, I will always be grateful to the White Sox organization.''

Juan Pierre drove in the lone run of the game in Saturday's win over the Cubs. His sixth-inning RBI single actually broke up a no-hit bid by Matt Garza. An unlikely hero given his first-half struggles, Pierre has now driven in the go-ahead run(s) in three consecutive games.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen has reiterated that Juan Pierre won't be benched anytime soon. ''Maybe he'll be 0-for-100 in the next 20 games,'' Guillen said. ''I don't care. He's playing.'' Guillen also added, ''I wish I had 25 Juan Pierres, with all due respect to [Paul] Konerko, [Alex] Rios, [Adam] Dunn. If you ever manage Juan Pierre, you appreciate the way this kid goes about his business.'' There continues to be a power struggle between Guillen and GM Kenny Williams, as it's clear that Williams wants to call up Dayan Viciedo, who is batting .329 with 13 home runs and 56 RBI at Triple-A, to replace Pierre, but Guillen won't let that happen.