By Dejan Kovacevic | 11:35 a.m. Wednesday
LAS VEGAS -- The Pirates and Florida are discussing a deal that would bring shortstop prospect Robert Andino to Pittsburgh. It is not known who might go the other way, but the Marlins long have liked catcher Ronny Paulino, who is on the block.
Andino, 24, batted .206, two home runs, nine RBIs in 44 games for the Marlins last season. He has appeared in 79 career games with a .201 average, but is considered athletic and sound defensively.
UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: Couple other quick things before I go roaming: The final offer the Pirates made to Detroit involving Jack Wilson, sometime late last week, sought from the Tigers shortstop prospect Danny Worth and a top pitching prospect (no name on that one). Money was involved, too, of course. The Tigers are believed never to have formally responded before turning their attention and, ultimately, signing Adam Everett. ... The Pirates and Dodgers, at one point, were closer to a Wilson deal than I previously had thought, certainly on the financial end. The Pirates' asking for a third prospect really seemed to throw this one out of whack.
1:34 p.m.: Still no confirmation on the potential return to Florida, but Andino's name is coming up quite a bit. And, really, that is about it so far today. What most everyone here seems to agree on is that trades are going to take a back seat to free agents, and free agents are going to take a lot longer than usual to sort out because of teams' position that the economy is forcing them to be cautious. John Grabow is a terrific example. There are 29 other teams that would welcome having Grabow in their bullpen, but they are not going to give up a prospect or two if they can just sign someone out of free agency.
1:39 p.m.: Baltimore never inquired about Wilson, to my knowledge, but the Orioles can be crossed off the need-a-shortstop list with the imminent signing of old friend Cesar Izturis.
2:19 p.m.: Josh Wilson, the utilityman who still has many followers in his native Mt. Lebanon, signed a minor league deal with Arizona.
4:44 p.m.: Paul Cobbe, Ryan Doumit's agent, has a meeting with the Pirates later tonight. The team recently approached Doumit with an offer to extend his contract, and all the people who do the negotiating are under this roof. Seems highly unlikely something could get settled quickly.
4:53 p.m.: This Andino/Marlins thing looks as if it might not advance past the talking stage. Paulino did, in fact, come up in the discussions. But one official expressed skepticism that something could get done. In general, the most important thing I can tell you today is that all anyone is talking about is how quiet everything is, the Pirates included. There have been only a couple of trades made, as well as just a couple signings, notably CC's deal. But everyone seems to be sitting back, holding back, waiting to see how the free-agent market shapes up before deciding if they are better off dealing with trades. And, even there, no one wants to give up prospects because everyone -- except the Yankees -- wants to be Tampa Bay. ... The Pirates are having "some good conversations," a team official told me without specifics, but he, too, sounded doubtful that anything was imminent.
5:56 p.m.: Posting will be light for a good while here, and not just because the Pirates are making no moves. Neal Huntington's media session is in a half-hour, followed closely by one with John Russell.
7:01 p.m.: Huntington, in his media session, that the Pirates are likely to make a trade that he twice described as "something small" and "not headline-grabbing." Sounds like a minor league swap. That might be about it here.
7:05 p.m.: Other highlights from that session, in brief: Huntington acknowledged getting "lots of hits" on his big four of Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, Matt Capps and Doumit, but it was plenty clear from his tone that these were nothing more than one-way inquiries that did not get far. ... He also hinted that there was one free-agent target that might turn into something but acknowledged other teams were "on this player," too. All I know is the reference was not to David Eckstein. ... The Pirates are down to two players they are certain they would take when they choose fourth overall in the Rule 5 draft tomorrow, so it is no slam dunk that someone will be claimed. ... Raul Chavez refused his outright assignment to Indianapolis and declared himself a free agent. But Huntington would like to bring Chavez and Jason Davis back.
8:09 p.m.: Huntington, Russell media sessions have their own post above.
9:03 p.m.: Joe Frisaro reports on MLB.com's Hot Stove Blog that Brian Bixler could be the Pirates player heading to Florida for Andino. Not independently confirmed. And might not happen at all. The Marlins just indicated that they, too, could make a "minor move" but also stressed that they might not.
Posted
Dec 10 2008, 11:35 AM
by
Dejan Kovacevic