Kovacevic: Pirates plan patience with offseason moves

Black and Gold Friday here at Primer! (fatty with large pocketbook gets knocked over at key BTF entrance)

But Huntington is adamant, as is the entire front office, that the plan this new administration set in motion last fall is making progress toward developing a deep organization. And all concerned are equally adamant that the most prominent moves made this winter must fit into that category.

“We are not throwing 2009 to the wind and saying, ‘Well, we’ll win again sometime in the future.’ We know we need to win, and sooner rather than later, and we’re going to show up, work hard, prepare, teach and go out to win every game” Huntington said. “But, if we can trade a veteran player and it brings us 12-18 years of control instead of one or two, and we don’t take that large of a step backward, that’s just good business.”

And that is why, according to multiple sources, no fewer than of the Pirates’ five veterans—shortstop Jack Wilson, second baseman Freddy Sanchez, first baseman Adam LaRoche, reliever John Grabow and catcher Ronny Paulino—already have been part of trade talks, to some degree or other.

In the cases of Sanchez and LaRoche, by all accounts, they have been mere inquiries from the outside. But the other three have come up in several directions.

“Wilson and Grabow are out there, and they’re really pushing Paulino,” one American League executive said.