Just because Pirates general manager Neal Huntington will spend the next four days in Las Vegas doesn't mean he'll gamble by making a hasty trade or free-agent signing.
Major League Baseball's annual Winter Meetings begin tomorrow morning at the Bellagio. The luxurious setting is fitting for an event that has often framed blockbuster, big-money deals. With shortstop Jack Wilson on the trading block and at least two teams in hot pursuit, the Pirates could make a splash at the four-day gathering of GMs, scouts, agents and players.
Or not.
"The beauty of the Winter Meetings is that everybody is together," Huntington said. "The downside is, everyone thinks something is going to happen. It's really just another four days in the process, and we don't feel any pressure to do anything."
Over the past year, Huntington has reshaped the Pirates' roster and begun restocking the farm system. That meant dealing veterans such as Jason Bay, Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.
At last year's meetings, Huntington's first with the Pirates, there was talk of a Bay-to-Cleveland trade. But by the time reports began to trickle onto the airwaves and Internet, the deal had collapsed.
Bay eventually was traded -- but not until seven months later, as part of a three-way deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Boston Red Sox.
Amid all the buzz about Bay, Huntington quietly laid the groundwork for a trade which actually went down. Two days after the Winter Meetings ended, reliever Salomon Torres was dealt to Milwaukee.
"There are a lot of background conversations happening, a lot of feeling-out going on," Huntington said.
Wilson is not the only player the Pirates would be willing to move. Second baseman Freddy Sanchez, first baseman Adam LaRoche and backup catcher Ronny Paulino are available, though none of them has generated much interest.
Not all of the chatter at the meetings involves trades. Agents circulate in the hotel lobby, hawking their free-agent clients.
What happens in the free-agent market often affects the trade market.
"There's no question those two play hand in hand," Huntington said. "Teams are still more willing to give up money (to free agents) than players."
If the Pirates deal Wilson, for example, they will need to acquire a replacement at shortstop. There is no player in the organization, including Brian Bixler and Luis Cruz, who management fully trusts with the everyday job.
That could explain why the Pirates are courting free agent Mark Loretta, who can play all four infield spots. Loretta, 36, is a two-time All-Star with a career .987 fielding percentage. He has played in 405 games -- one-fourth of his career -- at short. He made 72 appearances at the position in 2007, but just five in 2008.
