The Pirates will try to continue advancing their latest youth movement while they're at the winter meetings.
The Pirates, who have had 16 consecutive losing seasons and nearly as many rebuilding plans, began getting younger in late July when they traded left fielder Jason Bay to Boston and right fielder Xavier Nady and left-handed reliever Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees. Now, they will try to offload more veterans in an attempt to add even more young major-leaguers or projects. Tops on the list of players the Pirates would consider trading are their double-play combination, shortstop Jack Wilson and second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Wilson has drawn considerable interest from Detroit, and Baltimore is also believed to have inquired about the 30-year-old. Sanchez, though, has not generated much interest after needing a second-half surge to hit .271 last season.
The Pirates would also be willing to trade consider first baseman Adam LaRoche and left-hander reliever John Grabow, who both can become free agents after next season, and catcher Ronny Paulino, who lost his starting job to Ryan Doumit last spring.
"It could be an either/or situation," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said when asked if his club might be busy at the winter meetings. "We're not going to make moves just to make moves, though. We want to make our club better now and for the future."
The Pirates are also pursuing some lower-level free agents, including right-handed reliever Derrick Turnbow and infielder Mark Loretta, two players who appeared in the 2006 All-Star Game at PNC Park.
Turnbow, 30, spent most of last season in the minor leagues because of control problems. He was 0-1 with one save and a 15.63 ERA in eight games with Milwaukee in 2008 and 2-2 with a 10.50 ERA in 18 games, six starts, with Class AAA Nashville.
Loretta, 37, hit .280 with four home runs and 38 RBI in 101 games with Houston last season.
