Viva Las Vegas-Winter Meetings!

The Pirates invade Las Vegas for the winter meetings and despite rumors of Jack Wilson going to Detroit,Los Angeles and Minnesota,Wilson is still a Pittsburgh Pirate for now.

The Tigers signed Adam Everett,so they have no further interest,but the Dodgers and Twins are still talking a bit to Neal Huntington.
The funny thing about the meetings thus far is the contradiction with Nate McLouth and Paul Maholm.
On one hand,the Pirates have reportedly offered both players contract extensions,but have been in talks with the Braves about a possible deal,if the Braves are unable to land their top free agent target in A.J.Burnett.
I would be cautious in extension with either player despite their solid performances in 2008.
McLouth faded badly in the second half and all one has to do is look back at the contract extension given to Ian Snell after 2007 to see why treading softly with pitchers can be a good idea.

Ryan Doumit was also approached with the beginnings of contract talks,but with Doumit I am much more in agreement.
Power hitting lefthanded catchers are always scarce and in high demand,so the reward far outweighs the risk with Doumit.

The name that appeared in the Braves talks was Jordan Schafer.
Could Mr Personality become a Pirate???
I would much prefer Jason Heyward,but I cannot imagine Atlanta including him in any deal for the Pirate players involved.
There is not a Pirate minor leaguer that I would not trade for Heyward in a split second and yes,that includes Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen.

Mark Loretta signed elsewhere (Dodgers) and I cannot say that disappoints me,but the Bucs are talking to David Eckstein.
This tells me that either Wilson or even Freddy Sanchez are likely to be traded.
Eckstein would not be coming to Pittsburgh to sit on a bad team or this could be a hook put out there to show that Pittsburgh indeed is serious about making a middle infield move....

For those of you that say that I give the Indians short shrift,some Wahoo news from Vegas!
Looks like Cleveland is close to a deal with Kerry Wood to become the Indians closer next season with a two year contract with a possible option for a third year.
Wood was the best closer out there other than Francisco Rodriguez,who was clearly out of the Tribe's price range.
Wood comes with injury issues,but pitched well and often for the Cubs last season with 34 saves out of 40 opportunities....

Jason Davis refused his assignment to AAA Indianapolis and will be pitching in Japan in 2009.

The Pirates are likely to select a player in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday and here is hoping that they do.
I do question not protecting Jamie Romak though,with the dearth of power prospects in the system and with an open spot or two,I would have kept him on the 40 man roster.
However,it will be hard for a team to keep Romak on the roster all year,so even if they lose him,it should be just a temporary loss......

Players that I like in the draft are as follows...
Cleveland first baseman Jordan Brown has a high OBP as he progressed with the Indians and might a serviceable lefty pinch hitter right away,which would be rare for player from the draft.

I also like Daniel Mayora of the Rockies.
Mayora can play second or short,but we saw him play second against the Suns as a member of the Asheville Tourists in 2007.
His glove will play at either spot and his bat should be at least average as well,as he has hit well at each stop thus far.
When you consider the Pirates lack of enthusiasm for Brian Bixler and Brian Friday,Mayora could be a steal....

Eduardo Morlan of Tampa Bay will likely be the first player off the board or at least he should be.
The righthanded reliever has a plus fastball and slider and will step in and help whoever takes him right away.
Washington owns the first pick followed by Seattle and San Diego before the Pirates step up.
I would imagine Morlan would go to the Nationals or to someone working a deal with them,but I could be wrong-I thought Brian Barton would go first last year and he slid to 10th.
I was redeemed however with Barton's solid season with El Birdos.

I like a power lefty arm as much as anyone and despite control issues,I would love to see the Pirates take a shot at Donald Veal.
The Cubs fireballer could be hidden in the pen for a while and could eventually wind up there anyway,but could be a breakout starter with some adjustments....

And with Neal Huntington's Cleveland background.one can never rule out an Indian and this years could be
Chuck Lofgren.
The well thought of (autograph wise) lefthander would be coming off a bad season at Akron and despite getting ripped in Arizona fall league action,Lofgren was dominant in both 06 and 07 and could be worth selecting.

If not Lofgren,perhaps Neil Wagner could be the Indian hurler of choice.
I have seen Wagner several times and he can really bring it,having been clocked as high as 98 MPH.
The downsides to Wagner,he is smallish in stature(listed as six feet,I would wager closer to 5'10),turns 25 on New Years Day and has never pitched above High A other than a few weeks in Akron.
But he throws hard and has better control than Veal and has always pitched out of the bullpen.
Neil Wagner would be an interesting selection for Pittsburgh.

The best scenario would be for the Pirates to walk away with one of these players and have Jamie Romak slide through unclaimed.

The Devils return home for a game against the Penguins,coverage here later/tomorrow.....

Photo Credits
Vegas:Unknown
Veal and Romak:MLB.com
Mayora:Erin Brethauer-Asheville Citizen Times