"I told Neal regardless of what offer I get or what situation I'm in, because of what he did for me last winter, I will run it by him before I do anything," Mientkiewicz said last night from his home in Miami. "He was honest with me. He stuck out his neck for me when I didn't have anything else. I'll definitely give the Pirates the last crack."

Mientkiewicz, 34, was signed to a minor league contract last year and had to make the roster as a utilityman. He did so and wound up with a .277 average, .374 on-base percentage, two home runs and 30 RBIs in 285 at-bats.

Huntington informed Mientkiewicz shortly after the season that the Pirates want him back as a bench player but added that he would respect Mientkiewicz's decision to seek a starting role elsewhere.

Mientkiewicz declined to name the teams expressing interest but said he expects to have a clearer picture of his future after the Winter Meetings that begin Monday in Las Vegas.

"It's a typical Mientkiewicz offseason. I'm everybody's B and C plan," he said. "If the two guys they want to sign get hit by a truck, then they think about me."

He laughed as he said that but turned serious when asked about starting, something he has not done regularly since the second half of 2007 with the New York Yankees .

"It's huge for me. I still feel like I can play every day. And that's the biggest thing: If I do the job or I get on a roll, I want to know I'd have the chance to move into the lineup."

Mientkiewicz's most significant contribution to the Pirates might have been his fiery personality, from that high-profile shouting match with Randy Johnson to bitingly honest assessments when the team was not giving its best to his all-out-every-play commitment on the field.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I really mean that no matter what happens. I want to win more than anybody else does, but, even with the record we had, the pride I felt in some parts of that season were huge. I got to watch Nate McLouth blossom. I got to watch Ryan Doumit slug it out every night. I saw those guys grow up. And I saw a whole team that never quit. The nucleus is there, believe me. You build around Nate and Ryan, and you'll have something."

McLouth and Doumit have stayed in touch with Mientkiewicz all offseason.

"Look, the easy thing for an outsider to say is: Why would he want to go back to Pittsburgh? Well, there's more to it. It's hard to explain. I just felt such a connection to the people up there, to the guys in that clubhouse, the coaching staff ... they let me be me. I don't get that everywhere. I don't get a chance to voice my opinion in certain situations, and John Russell was adamant about letting me be me, like it or love it or hate it. And I think it rubbed off on the guys that needed to hear it."

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NOTES -- The Pirates are focused on Los Angeles in their trade talks involving shortstop Jack Wilson, with Dodgers shortstop prospect Chin-Lung Hu and outfielder Delwyn Young still at the forefront of the possible return. ... The Pirates hired Marc DelPiano as Huntington's eighth special assistant. DelPiano, 41, was a special assignment scout for the Boston Red Sox the past three seasons. ... Tickets are on sale now for PirateFest, Jan. 23-25 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Players set to appear include McLouth, second baseman Freddy Sanchez and pitchers Paul Maholm and Matt Capps. Doug Drabek, a Cy Young Award winner in 1990, also will attend.