Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Right-handed pitcher Jeff Sues has been invited to participate in the Pirates' Major League Spring Training, the club announced on Tuesday. Sues was a non-roster participant last year for the first time.

After a standout 2008 season, Sues went 2-6 with a 4.67 ERA in 48 games. He struck out 86 and walked 45 in 90 2/3 innings.

The Pirates now have 26 non-roster players and a total of 66 players coming to camp. Pitchers and catchers must report to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., by the end of next Wednesday.

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So I figured I desperately needed to update this blog in fear that you all were getting concerned/anxious/angry about the lack of entries over the past week. It has nothing to do with the fact that I spent 10 days sick (though I did), but everything to do with the Pirates making little in the way of news. Not that that's always a bad thing. Well, unless you want the blog updated daily.

Anyways, as I was searching for something to post, I thought MLB.com's 2010 Fantasy report, which was released today, could be of interest to those of you fantasy baseball gurus. (This is for you, Dad, so pay attention.).

The fine fantasy folks at MLB.com have put together quite the scouting reports, and you can start by taking a look at Pirates projections here. And here is an accompanying global story.

And here's some other stuff of potential interest...

• You'll notice the Around the Horn preview series continued today with a look at the Pirates starting rotation situation going into camp. I'll wrap up the series with a look at the bullpen and bench before Spring Training opens.
• I'll try to get two more Inboxes (one this week, one early nex week) out before Spring Training opens as well, so feel free to send my your inquiries. Remember, I need question, first name, last initial and hometown included in an email to Jenifer.Langosch@MLB.com
• Also, look for multiple Spring Training preview stories to start filtering out onto the site in the next week. As I stare at the 23 inches of snow out my window, it's hard to believe it's that time already.
• Pitchers and catchers report in nine days.

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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced on Monday that long-time baseball broadcaster Jon Miller has been named the Ford C. Frick Award winner for 2010. Former Pirates broadcaster Lanny Frattare had been one of 10 finalists for the honor, which is presented annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting.

A 20-member panel selected Miller from a list of candidates that included Frattare, Billy Berroa, Skip Caray, Tom Cheek, Jacques Doucet, Graham McNamee, Jon Miller, Joe Nuxhall, Herb Score and Dave Van Horne. Miller, who is most recognized for calling ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball telecasts, will be honored at the Hall of Fame induction weekend in Cooperstown, N.Y., in late July.

Frattare, who spent 33 years as a broadcaster for the Pirates before stepping down after the 2008 season, is likely to continue garnering serious consideration for the award in years to come. He called more Pirates games than anyone else in franchise history before going into retirement.

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First off, thanks to you PirateFest-goers for keeping the questions much briefer than yesterday. Made my life easier. Here are some of the highlights from president Frank Coonelly, general manager Neal Huntington, manager John Russell as best as I could frantically transcribe. In my opinion, the questions seemed to be more thoughtful (in other words: less ranting and raving) than on Friday, and the tone of fans seemed more tempered than on Friday for what's that worth.

And in case you missed it, Friday's Q-and-A session is typed out further below in the blog.

Can you respond to the report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Saturday that Penguins owner Ron Burkle is interested in purchasing the Pirates?

Coonelly: The Pirates are not for sale. Bob Nutting is committed to this organization.Your next question might be why would Mario [Lemieux] and Rob be interested in purchasing the Pirates? I'm not surprised at all. They are good business people. What they see in the Pirates, if they're interested in purchasing, is that the Pirates have financial stability. They are saying this would be a sound business investment. The team is not for sale. It's not going to be for sale. Bob is determined to bring a championship back to Pittsburgh and see this process through.

How can this team win if the revenue-sharing dollars aren't being put back into the club?

Coonelly: Your facts are not right. Our payroll last year was well in excess of what we received in revenue-sharing profits. In addition to that, our Major League payroll is only a small portion of what we spend. We spend far in excessive of what we receive in revenue sharing every year.

With such a young roster, where is veteran leadership coming from and isn't there value to having players that know how to win?

Russell: We brought in some veteran guys - Dotel, Donnelly, Crosby. They know how to win. We also have some guys who have been here - Maholm, Duke, Doumit. They aren't young puppies anymore. They have been here for years. We have guys that have that leadership quality. If you listened to guys earlier, you'll hear them talking about the team and pushing each other and helping each other.  We have a great mix here with the talent we have and what's coming and the veterans we added. Let's not forget about Maholm, Duke and Doumit because this is their team, too.

Huntington: Part of the mindset is the balance of the roster. There is a nice balance here. As this core group comes together, it's going to be more expensive. My first exposure in baseball was with the Montreal Expos. I don't want to criticize them, but they're not in existence anymore. Those owners were committed to putting every single dollar to the Major League payrolls. Bob [Nutting] is taking criticism because of the decisions that Frank and I have made. To be successful in these markets, you have to build with core players from within.

Would you be interested in being Commissioner of Baseball?

Coonelly: No, I really have no interest in being the Commisioner of baseball. My interest is in Pittsburgh and turning this around.

Do you think that your previous position in MLB has kept the heat off the Pirates for having a low payroll [reference to the Marlins being called out for their use of revenue-sharing dollars]?

Coonelly: We have been investing our revenue-sharing dollars in the baseball operations department. There hasn't been one single request for money that Bob [Nutting] hasn't delivered on. Every team that receives revenue-sharing dollars, you have to provide a report to baseball on how you used it. I think that's why we haven't heard from that and not because of my relationship.

How can we know that core players aren't going to continue being traded away?

Huntington: The toughest part is we deal with media leaks all the time. The best thing might have been if the Nate McLouth deal had leaked out because it became a shock. Our return for Nate McLouth was three players that we felt had the upside to be better than Nate McLouth long term. It may not turn out to be that way. We're not going to find a No. 1 or 2 starter on the free agent market. We're going to have to trade for them or sign and develop them. Charlie Morton is an exciting player. Gorkys Hernandez is a great fit for our ballpark. We really like Jeff Locke. This is a franchise-changing trade.  I understand the message that it sent. In this day and age, players come and go. Our goal is to produce a winning team. This is a group that we look forward to moving ahead with. There will still be some trades, but the mass exodus is behind us. We've built the farm system stronger than it's been in a long time and maybe ever.

What will the veteran pitchers teach some of the younger ones?

Russell: I think the biggest thing a veteran guy can do is show how to handle the highs and lows of the game. That's one thing a veteran player can help a younger player.  That's some of the things we're expecting from Paul and Doumit and some of the guys we've brought in.

Can you talk to us about the talent in the Minor League system?

Huntington: We're excited about a lot of the arms we added in last year's Draft and about Tony Sanchez. Tony really did some great things for us last year. The Carolina League championship team, as they headed into the postseason it was Brett Lorin, Aaron Pribanic, Jeff Locke, Rudy Owens who stepped up and won big games for them in the stretch. We've got too many arms, candidly, at the Single-A level. We're going to have to piggy-back guys because we have too many good arms that we are excited about developing.

Starling Marte is a sensational five-tool outfielder. Chase D'Arnaud, Jordy Mercer, Colton Cain, Jarek Cunningham, Robbie Grossman, Quinton Miller... there are a lot of names that I could rattle off. The deepest teams are going to be the West Virginia and Lynchburg [now Bradenton] club as we move forward.

What's your reaction to Baseball America ranking the Pirates' Minor League system 16th heading into 2010?

Huntington: We were surprised by that. Last year we were carried by Andrew McCutchen and we lost that impact player. That's what most of these rankings are based on -- impact guys. We thought we'd be ranked better. We don't rely on their rankings. It's interesting to know that as Top 30 lists were being put together, we were talking about 40-50 players where as a few years ago we were trying to find 20 players. We're a Starling Marte or Zack Von Rosenberg breakout year from really moving up.

Coonelly: It's also important to note that at 16, it's higher than we've been in six years.

The Penguins have become a Championship team by being smart in Drafts, while the Pirates haven't done the same thing. Isn't that what has to be done?

Coonelly: Part of the frustration fans feel here is that as the Steelers have won Super Bowls, the Penguins all of a sudden win a Championship shortly after the salary cap is introduced - the natural conclusion is that salary cap equals a championship in Pittsburgh. How did the Pens get there? The salary cap helps, but it doesn't equal championships.

The Penguins had high Draft choices and they utilized those well. They also got lucky and won the Sidney Crosby lottery. And in two years, they managed to have access to two of the three best players in the league.

The Pirates never did that [in previous management], you're right. We came in here and said we will take the best player available. We agree. We did that with Pedro Alvarez. Last year was different. We were selecting No. 4 rather than No. 2. If we were selecting No. 2 last year, we would have taken Dustin Ackley. We would have allocated that money to a Stephen Strasburg or Ackley. After we got past those two players, we didn't see any other players that we saw it beneficial to allocate $6-7 million on one player. What we saw was a player in Tony Sanchez that we value much higher than Baseball America did. Tony Sanchez would have never gotten to the bottom half of the first round. He would have gone somewhere around No. 10 or No. 12. His first year answered a lot of questions about his bat. He's a terrific leader and a great catcher. What it allowed us to do was let us be extraordinarily aggressive after the first round. Von Rosenberg, Cain, Dodson's, all those guys are very high on the list. We wouldn't have had the opportunity to sign all those players if all our money had been allocated to the first-round of the Draft.

Where do you anticipate LHP Rudy Owens starting the year?

Huntington: Rudy has the chance to make the Altoona roster out of ST, but realistically he'll probably start in high-A because he only had a few starts there last year. If he goes there and does well, there's no reason why we can't move him at the mid-season point. We are known to be a conservative group.

How do you prove that the Pirates are committed to international investments when you weren't able to sign Miguel Sano?

Huntington: I can feel your frustration. [insert the answer that Huntington gave in Friday's Q-and-A, which is printed below].

Last year you said that if Stephen Strasburg dropped to No. 4 in the Draft, you would take him. Can you say the same about Bryce Harper if he drops to No. 2 this year?

Huntington: No. There's light years difference in the two players. Stephen Strasburg is an advanced college pitcher, arguably the best amateur college pitcher ever. We applaud the Washington Nationals for selecting him and are a little bit envious.

We like Bryce Harper, but I can't tell you Bryce Harper is right now in our Top 10. He's getting a lot of hype and publicity. I almost feel bad for the guy because he's going to have to live up to being the next LeBron James.

We will scout Bryce Harper, we will put him on the board and if he's the right player, we'll take him. We're not just going to pick a player because publications like him. We'll select the player that we think is best when we pick.

Would life be easier if there was no Scott Boras?

Huntington: Scott Boras is an incredible advocate for his players. If you're an elite talent and you know where you want to play, he usually gets it done.

With Jeff Clement having the upper hand for the first base job, does Steve Pearce even have a chance?

Russell: We've made it very clear that we'd like Jeff to show us that he is capable of playing first base. I think he can. We're very intrigued with the bat. But we're not giving jobs away. Guys still have to play. I don't just give jobs to guys. I think Clement is going to be a nice addition for us, but by no means does that erase Steve Pearce. We're not closing the door on Steve Pearce. He'll be given every opportunity to hopefully make our club.

Does Neil Walker have a chance to make the team this spring?

Huntington: Neil has made a lot of progress. He struggled a little bit earlier, but did come on stronger. I think Neil still has some development. It doesn't mean he doesn't have a chance to make our club, but he still has development. He needs to continue to work on his approach at the plate. We're excited to have Neil in our system. I'm not closing the door on Neil at Spring Training. Maybe we'll move him around this year. We'll look at our options as Spring Training goes on.

Could the Pirates make a run at remaining free agents whose prices might drop?

Russell: I'm kind of excited to see Pedro Alvarez in Pittsburgh at some point. I'm excited to see Jose Tabata in Pittsburgh at some point. I'm excited to see Brad Lincoln and Starling Marte. If we sign guys then we block some of our younger players. We talked about this. We feel good about the club we have now.

Was there any thought to trying sign Ben Sheets?

Huntington: We did our due diligence. We read the medicals. We watched him throw. There was a point in time where we would have committed to him, but at $10 million, we felt that was an excessive gamble for us.

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Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Those participating in the hour-long session at PirateFest included hitting coach Don Long, Bobby Crosby, Evan Meek, Garrett Jones, Steve Pearce, Daniel McCutchen, Andrew McCutchen, Lastings Milledge, Neil Walker, Paul Maholm, Andy LaRoche, Joel Hanrahan, Ross Ohlendorf, Charlie Morton, Ryan Doumit and manager John Russell.

Here are some of your questions, as best I could transcribe...

To Ryan Doumit and Paul Maholm, what is it like being some of the last guys left in this organization after all that turnover?

Maholm: It's kind of odd all of a sudden to become the guy with the most time on the team. But it's fun. We've got a great group of guys and we expect to win.

Doumit: It kind of happened real quick from me, being just a guy on the team to being a salty vet. But it's kind of fun.

To Andrew McCutchen, we saw what you did after your walk-off homer last year, what are your plans for the next one?

McCutchen: No, I don't have anything planned on the top of my head. Me and [Lastings] Milledge talked about what I would do with a walk-off the night before and I said I wanted to do that. Then I did. Do you have any ideas?

Do you have any superstitions?

A. McCutchen: I think the game itself is very superstitious. You do some things every day that you don't even know you're doing, like you're bat stance. I go up with the Pirate Parrot and jump up before every game.

Milledge: The way we get ready for the game. We have a set routine going to the training room, getting your workout in. You try to get in a set routine and do it so long that if you don't do something that you're used to doing every day, it gets weird.

Walker: Me personally, I don't have any superstitions. Probably the biggest thing is putting clothing on the exact same way. I know Andrew was lying. He doesn't wash his socks.

Hanrahan: I usually drink a Red Bull about the fifth inning so if he calls me in any earlier than that, I don't know what I'd do.

Ohlendorf: If I'm pitching at home, I eat the same thing before every game. I go down to Atria's and get the same thing every day for lunch. Then when I get to the field, I play cards a little bit and then do a lot of reading. I read a lot of history.

Doumit: I think it's more of just a routine of keeping everything in the same place. I like to have my catcher's equipment in the same place, put my bat in the same place every day.

D. McCutchen: I have a routine every fifth day. I do the same thing every time I take the mound -- throw six warm-up pitches. If I've been pitching badly, I'll bust out new cleats, socks, sliders and see if that helps.

Jones: When I was going through a slump, I took out at Olive Garden one day and then went 3-for-4. Then I started getting the same thing at Olive Garden for lunch every day for about a month and a half.

What do you like to do when not playing baseball?

A. McCutchen: I like video games - Guitar Hero and Call of Duty.

Walker: For me it's usually the movies and getting dinner at a normal time.

Morton: I like to play the guitar and listen to music.

Doumit: I'm a big movie buff.

D. McCutchen: During the season, I like to golf. I've also been getting into hunting lately.

Jones: After the season I just go to my bedroom, turn off the lights and wait until next season. I just dream about baseball.

Coming to Pittsburgh you had a bad rap in the media, how have things been different in Pittsburgh?

Milledge: I think I brought a lot of stuff on myself in previous organization. I didn't take the game very seriously. I was just always blessed with talent and a lot of things were handed to me. Once I came here, I didn't take the game for granted anymore. I'm working a little bit harder, doing the things that got me drafted. Just not taking the game for granted. It's a clean slate for me and I'm really taking advantage of everything that's being offered to me.

Then Ohlendorf added: A lot of us had heard things about Lastings in the past, but I think I speak for everybody when I say that he's been a great teammate. Things you've read about him being lazy or being a bad teammate, he's not been that way. I think he'll be one of the leaders.

How do you prepare mentally/physically to endure an entire 162-game season?

Ohlendorf: With physical preparation, you have routines and figure out what works. Mental preparation, a lot of it is just rest and being rejuvenated for the season. Some people read books - I do - about being aware of your thoughts. A lot of us are excited about this season. I think it'll be different from last year when we trailed off. I think you can expect us to get better as the season goes on. It seems like there will be fewer trades than there have been. We're all confident that we can be good Major League players.

Andrew, How did it feel to hit three home runs in one game with your parents in the stands?

McCutchen: It was definitely amazing. It was my parent's anniversary and it was great for them to be there to enjoy that. The funny thing is that they were late coming to the game and missed the first one. They were able to see the next two. Who knows if it'll happen again.

How do you come up to your at-bat music?

[Insert Andrew McCutchen rapping here]

Morton: I like country music the best. But some of it can definitely put people to sleep, so you have to find something interesting.

Doumit: I've always tried to follow Chipper Jones' lead. He's come up to Crazy Train his whole career. It's kind of become his identity. I am doing the same thing and sticking with one song.

D. McCutchen: I don't have anything really picked out. Maybe I'll take one of Charlie Morton's songs.

Jones: As a hitter, you've got to get something that people will get into. I might go with that new Miley Cyrus song "Party in the USA."

Meek: I'm actually more of a Britney Spears fan.

Crosby: I've never had a walk-up song. I'll take requests.

To Garrett, do you prefer to play first base or right field on a given day?

Jones: They are totally different positions. Thank you for saying I am amazing at first base. Those are pretty powerful words. But I don't care where I play, I just hope to be in the lineup. I try to give 100 percent in every game. I probably feel a little more comfortable at first base because it's my natural position, but I'll play wherever they want me to play.

What was it like to get a win with the Nationals on a day off with the Pirates?

Hanrahan: I thought it was pretty cool. I kind of wanted to go to Houston and play that game with the Nationals before I got traded because I was on-deck and would have faced one of my good friends [LaTroy Hawkins]. But I was sleeping when it happened. I had just played 18 holes of golf.

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Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Pirates management -- president Frank Coonelly, manager John Russell and general manager Neal Huntington -- just answered a variety of questions at the PirateFest Q-and-A session, which is always one of the most anticipated events at the yearly baseball carnival. Before getting to the highlights, here's a few things to keep in mind.

Note No. 1: I can only type so fast, so I promise that the transcription of this Q-and-A is 87 percent word-for-word. I tried to furiously type as questions were being asked/answered, but I can only be so quick.

Note No. 2: For those of you who plan on attending Saturday's session and asking something, please keep the questions short. I'm sure you have vast baseball knowledge or want to make sure your point is heard or want to sound smarter than the next person, but when a question becomes a dissertation, no one follows you. Just saying...

Note No. 3: I paraphrased the questions. Thank me later. And not every question was able to make it in here. Please forgive me.

Why will results change in 2010?

Russell: A lot of the guys last year, even though they had very good individual seasons, they were trying to establish themselves as Major League players. Unfortunately, that's not really conducive to team baseball. Now the players are really looking forward to playing as a team.

What capital improvements have been made to improve this team?

Coonelly: There are two types of investments you make in a ballclub - operating expenses and long-term investments. The new facility in Bradenton was a huge capital investment. Then we moved to the Dominican Republic where we were renting one sub-standard field and built one of the best academies in the Dominican Republic. That really gives us a competitive advantage in Latin America. Recently, we purchased a Class A team in Sarasota and moved it to Bradenton. That keeps them right in the hub of all our baseball activity. We have made virtually all of our major investments on the baseball operations side because we knew that's where we had to improve this organization to return to a championship-caliber organization.

Will there ever be a salary cap?

Coonelly: We still have to ask for patience because the only way to build this the right way is to build from within. The good news is we're two years into it and we're getting there. In terms of will we stand up to the large-market clubs? It really isn't a question of an inability or unwillingness to stand up to large market clubs. The rest of the industry is on our side that it would benefit us all that there were some payroll regulation. Our issues is it's a subject of collective bargaining. The Pirates are certainly pushing internally for changes in collective bargaining [which expires at end of 2011 season]. In the meantime, we have to win under this system. It's tougher. You have to be more creative. You might not be able to make the mistakes other clubs do, but it can be done.

How did you not sign Miguel Sano?

Coonelly: We were disappointed that we didn't sign Miguel Sano. Miguel is a 16 1/2 year baseball player, however. It's no sure thing that he's going to be an impact player. The Pirates weren't putting out that we were interested in Miguel Sano. That was the local press. We did really like Miguel and did really want to sign him. The good news is that we were in the game for the first time. We were never in the game for a player who was looking for $250,00 out of Latin America before. We were in the game, but this may be the one time where we were overly aggressive. We wanted the player too much. We moved too quickly. Normally if you wait until July 5 to sign the player you want to sign, he's already signed. [Signing period begins on July 2]. We wanted to get the player signed immediately and we were aggressive. We understand the importance of Latin America. We will continue to be in the game.

Huntington: I didn't get it done, quite simply. I relied on the agent to live on his word, which was that he would come back to us after another offer was made. We were the only team that made an offer to him on July 2. We were told he wasn't ready to sign and that the agent would come back to us when he was ready to sign. We were told that when other issues were resolved, he would be ready to negotiate. We made another aggressive offer, bidding against ourselves. Once again, the agent said we're not ready to negotiate. We never got a chance to offer our highest bid.

What to do if there's a logjam at third base?

Huntington: We may make a position change. We may trade players. As we sit here right now, we have one Major League third baseman and that's Andy LaRoche. As we plan for the future, sure we have ideas about what we'd like to do. But to move a player just because we think somebody is coming isn't smart. It's a great sign for the organization when you have too much depth and you have to trade a player.  We'll put contingency plans in place for when we have more than one Major League third baseman.

What challenges could it bring if Pedro Alvarez comes up mid-season?

Russell: It's a good problem to have. Basically, that's what we're striving for. You want quality players, quality depth. You can't look that far ahead because baseball is a funny game. Pedro is obviously a great player. If he does come here, at this point, we'll make a decision. As a manager, those are fun decisions to make because I'll have two quality players.

Can we begin to evaluate some of the recent trades and who among those players is closest to making a significant contribution?

Huntington: The true evaluation on those trades will take years. Statistically, we can project all we want on these players, but to predict the human element is almost impossible. We've gone through a talent accumulation mode. It's my job to give John Russell and our Major League staff a better group of players. We need to give them better players.

Why did you commit money to free agents this offseason if you're still projected to have a losing season?

Huntington: Closers get paid based on saves in the arbitration process. We tried to retain Matt Capps. We weren't able to come to an agreement that we thought was fair. We have contractual control for the same amount of years with Octavio Dotel as we do with Capps.  If Octavio Dotel and Matt Capps have similar years, Dotel will cost us less money next year than Capps would have. Brendan Donnelly is going to help us shorten a baseball game and help us off the field. In Ryan Church's case, Ryan gives us insurance that is better than what we had in our minds. The [$5 million] dollars invested in real-world dollars a ton of money. In baseball terms, they are very small investments. It didn't take away our ability to invest in other players. Those moves were done because we felt like it gave us a better team on the field.

Coonelly: We think that this young core is going to come together. We're not calling it 70 wins and let's be done. We want to give them a chance to succeed. We need these young guys to know that these games are going to be closed out at the end. We want to give manager Russell a chance to win these games.

Did you consider getting a veteran starter this offseason?

Huntington: We talked about Jon Garland, Vicente Padilla, Braden Looper. But when we talked about what they would bring and what we had internally, we felt like it was a better investment to give those innings to the winner of the Kevin Hart - Daniel McCutchen battle in Spring Training to let them develop. It's always a balance between the present and the future. We felt it was a better use of our innings to let these guys develop.

Who is in competition for fifth rotation spot?

Russell: We feel good about our rotation. Charlie Morton in my opinion, he's going to be fun to watch. This guy's got tremendous stuff. In my opinion, we're looking for a fifth starter to step up. We have Kevin Hart, who is a fierce competitor and is going to do everything he can. We have Daniel McCutchen. We have depth. We've got guys who can come up and help us win games. We're very excited about our rotation.

It seems that there was a lack of plate discipline last year. Are you doing anything to cut down on strike outs and make more productive outs?

Russell: I think our plate discipline has improved since we first got here. When you have young players, plate discipline is going to change a little bit. It takes time. It's tough to really change a guy in a short period of time. If he's a 20 percent strikeout guy in the Minor Leagues, he's a 20 percent strikeout guy in the Majors. Yes, you can change that. But it takes some time. I do think our guys have done a better job. We can do it. With young players, maintaining it is sometimes more difficult than we may like.

Huntington: Church and Iwamura are both players that are tough outs. Part of it is bringing in players with a proven track record. In the Minors, it's selective aggressiveness. A walk is a result, not a goal. We're not going up looking for a walk. We're going up looking for our pitch to drive. If we don't get it, we have to learn to lay off.

Why not get someone for Matt Capps instead of letting him go?

Huntington: In Matt's case, it was a tough one. His highest value was when we came aboard at the end of 2007. We had an opportunity to essentially trade him for a warm body [early in 2009] and chose to hold him because we figured he would bounce back in the second half. He didn't have much of a value at the trade deadline. When we realized we weren't going to be able to come to an agreement, we did make an effort to trade him. No one wanted to risk paying him and give something up for him. No team is going to give up a prospect and pay him that.

Will the organization eventually overpay for talent to keep them in Pittsburgh?

Coonelly: I'm more likely to overpay than Neal. Are we likely to overpay for talent? No. You shouldn't want us to overpay because every million we overpay player A is not available to us for Player B, C, and D. You should want a smart management team that puts together it's team most effectively and efficiently. I object to overpaying. I don't object to a plan of keeping your core players in the organization as long as you can. You should want us to be a smart management team that isn't throwing away money on one player.

Huntington: What's exciting about 2010 and beyond is that you hear the optimism, you hear the excitement about the bonds being formed because for the first time in a while, these guys feel like they're going to be around here for a while. We need to build around this group of players. The reality is that no team keeps all of its player. Baseball has become roster turnover. It's important to keep your core together, and we're going to do everything we can to keep players in Pittsburgh that want to stay in Pittsburgh. To overpay, we're not going to overpay. But are we going to be aggressive to keep players in Pittsburgh? Absolutely.

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By Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com

Infielder Brian Friday, catcher Hector Gimenez and infielder Doug Bernier have been added to the list of now 25 non-roster players invited to Pirates Spring Training.

Friday, the team's third-round selection in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, hit .265 with 32 extra-base hits and 46 RBIs in 110 games at Double-A Altoona last year. Friday is not in contention to earn a spot on the Pirates' Opening Day roster, but participating in his first big-league camp will give him a taste of what that competition might be like as he gets closer to the Majors. 

Gimenez split the 2009 season between Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, where he combined to hit .276 with eight homers and 38 RBIs. Though Gimenez is primarily a catcher, he did play some third base, left field and first base last year. 

Bernier, who signed a Minor League contract with the club, spent last season with the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate in what was his third straight season at that Minor League level. Bernier was limited to 79 games and hit just .181. He made a brief two-game Major League appearance with the Rockies in 2008.

Just wrapped up the media luncheon at the Convention Center and will have much more popping up on the main site later tonight and this weekend from the event. Plans for Bill Mazeroski's statue were formally announced this afternoon. Also, I conducted a number of player interviews over the past hour, so you'll see all sorts of stories coming from those leading up to Spring Training.

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It's PirateFest weekend, meaning that over a dozen current players and a handful of Pirates alum will be heading over to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for the weekend festivities. Again, if you need any additional information about purchasing tickets or event info, here's your source.

There will be a Pirates.com/MLB.com booth set up somewhere in the convention center, and I'll be there during part of my time covering the event. Please don't hesitate to stop over and say Hi, as I always enjoy getting to meet readers in person. And if I'm not at the booth when you come by, there's usually a free giveaway at our table, so it'll be worth your time regardless.

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In case you didn't see the unveiling of Jonathan Mayo's Top 50 prospects on MLB Network/MLB.com Wednesday night, here are a few links that might be of interest to you. Mayo listed third baseman Pedro Alvarez as the eighth-best prospect in the Minors. Be sure to watch the video that accompanies the story for some additional insight.

If you're interested in the rest of Mayo's list, check this out. It also delves into different breakdowns and comparisons that you might find interesting.

It's worth nothing that no other Pirates made the Top 50 (or even what-would-have-been Top 60) list.

If you want to reminisce, take a look at these lists of MLB.com's Top 50 prospects from 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. You'll find that Andy LaRoche was ranked No. 33 in 2008 and No. 29 in 2006. Andrew McCutchen was listed every year since 2007. Back in 2006, Lastings Milledge was put at No. 14 and Craig Hansen sat at No. 44.

In general, it's pretty interesting to scroll through these Top 50 lists and see which projections were spot on and which players turned out to be not nearly as good as the hype.

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Right-handers Anthony Claggett and Steven Jackson -- both of whom were recently designated for assignment -- have cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates will bring both pitchers to Spring Training as non-roster invitees.

The Pirates now have 22 non-roster players prepared to participate in big-league Spring Training. Here is that list.

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