THE BULLPEN

     The Major League Baseball winter meetings are upon us as GMs, managers and front office execs converge in San Diego to heat up the hot stove. Pirates GM Neal Huntington made the trek, wish list in tow. Will Neal bring home a neatly wrapped starting pitcher for Pirates fans? How about a few other trinkets such as relief pitching and bench depth? Mrs. Black-N-Gold looks at possible targets for your Pittsburgh Pirates.

     Until LH Jon Lester, the first domino in the free agent pitching market, falls, no one seems eager to show their hand. Once Lester goes, the next big money pitchers are expected to be RHs Max Scherzer and James Shields. Rumor has it, Scherzer may wait until late in the offseason to sign. In the meantime, teams could be going after LH Francisco Liriano. The Pirates have expressed an interest in retaining Liriano, going so far as to offer him the $15.3 million qualifying offer. Unfortunately, Frankie declined that offer, preferring to test the free agent waters. Word is, the World Champion San Fran Giants may go after Frankie. If the Pirates come up short with him, they may shift their focus to RH Edinson Volquez. Other names linked to the Pirates are LH Brett Anderson, RH Justin Masterson, and RH Brandon McCarthy. Sure, the Pirates brought back RH AJ Burnett for one more season. Unfortunately, AJ is no longer a front-line starter. The Pirates have got to get someone to be #2 to RH Gerrit Cole's #1.

      The Pirates did make a move yesterday, albeit a minor one. They claimed RH Josh Lindblom off waivers from Oakland. To make room for Lindblom they outrighted RH Angel Sanchez to Indy. Will Lindblom pan out? Considering he only logged 4 innings in the bigs last season, probably not. This looks like a depth move. Who knows, maybe Lindblom can help them in the bullpen, another area where they're searching for help. The Pirates need to beef up their pen after last season's fall off.

     Last offseason, the Pirates went to the winter meetings in need of first base and right field help. Although both Pedro Alvarez and Gregory Polanco are still question marks at their respective positions, the Pirates seem to have them firmly penciled in at those spots.

     The Pirates still seek depth on the bench. They acquired UT Sean Rodriguez from Tampa Bay. Rodriguez is this year's Josh Harrison with his ability to play multiple positions. The problem is he can't play them all at once. INF Clint Barmes signed with San Diego and 1B Gaby Sanchez was DFA'd. They may bring Gaby back to spell Pedro. Or they can try to go with Andrew Lambo. The thing is both Pedro and Lambo are lefties. That could be a matchup problem for Manager Clint Hurdle. And who do the Pirates go to back up in the outfield? They offered salary arbitration to OF Travis Snider. Will they keep OF Jose Tabata as a backup, too?

      The winter meetings run until December 11. PiratesFest is this weekend. Wouldn't it be cool for Neal Huntington to bring the fans some more pieces to the championship puzzle when he gets home? Let's Go Bucs!!!!!