The Pirates today began their offseason paring of the 40-man roster by removing starter Victor Santos and utilityman Mike Edwards.

Santos, 29, spent the full season on the staff and went 5-9 with a 5.70 ERA, with 19 starts and six relief appearances. But he did not pitch at all after a poor outing Sept. 5 in Chicago, a clear sign that management had lost confidence in him. He was outrighted to Class AAA Indianapolis but elected free agency instead.

Edwards, 29, also was outrighted to Indianapolis and elected free agency. In three brief stints with the Pirates, he was 3 for 16 at the plate.

Those moves left the 40-man roster at 38, including two players still on the 60-day disabled list, starter Bryan Bullington and outfielder Jody Gerut.

Also today, third baseman Freddy Sanchez was named the unanimous winner of the local Roberto Clemente Award, given out annually since 1973 to the member of the Pirates who exemplifies Clemente's standard of excellence. It is chosen by a vote of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Sanchez, 28, became the franchise's 25th National League batting champion with a .344 average that was highest of anyone on the Pirates since Clemente's .345 in 1969.

Left fielder Jason Bay, the winner last year, took every second-place vote this time except one, which went to reliever Salomon Torres.