Pirates sign two pitchers from ... India?

Yes, you read correctly, India? That baseball hotbed ... India?

This smacks of only the Pirates could do something like this.

The Pirates signed two pitchers on Monday – Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel – both 20-year-olds from India.

But it's not as if your Buccos found these two guys playing at some U.S. college or high school. No, they were noticed on, of all things, a reality television show. The show called "Million Dollar Arm" find someone who could throw strikes at 85 miles per hour and above.

The best part is, it's not even like the Pirates got one of the winning pitchers from this game show. Neither guy won. Now that is following in true Pirates tradition.

Still, these guys found their way to the U.S. and eventually worked out for 30 major league scouts. The Pirates eventually signed the players. Patel is 5-11, 185 pounds who can throw 90 miles per hour and Singh is 6-2, 195 who only threw 84 at the workout.

“The Pirates are committed to creatively adding talent to our organization,” Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said in the Associated Press story. “By adding these two young men, the Pirates are pleased to not only add two prospects to our system but also hope to open a pathway to an untapped market. We are intrigued by Patel’s arm strength and Singh’s frame and potential.”

Uh huh.

Well, good luck to the young men. And who knows, in a country of one billion people, perhaps the Pirates found the best two pitchers there who will turn into the next great major leaguers.

Oh, wait, it's the Pirates, never mind.