Bring On the Manatees!

-- The Pirates first lineup of the year, facing off against the State College of Florida at Manatee-Sarasota nine:

Hernandez, Gorkys (CF) 0-4, 2K
Raynor, John (LF) 0-3, R, K
Van Every, Jonathan (LF) 0-1, K
Tabata, Jose (RF) 1-4, 2B, K
Alvarez, Pedro (3B) 3-4, R, RBI, 2B
Pearce, Steve (1B) 1-4, R, 2RBI, HR, K
Moss, Brandon (DH) 2-2, 2R, RBI, 2B, HR
Walker, Neil (DH) 0-1, K
Kratz, Eric (C) 2-2, R, 2RBI, HR
Carlin, Luke (C) 0-0, W
Diaz, Argentis (SS) 0-2, K
Friday, Brian (SS) 0-1, K
Bernier, Doug (2B) 0-2, W

The Pirates thumped the Sea Cows 6-1, led by bombs hit by Brandon Moss, Eric Kratz, and Steve Pearce, blasted consecutively in the fourth frame. But they went a very Buc-like 1-for-9 with RSIP. Hey, already mid-season form!

The pitchers gave up eight hits, one run (a Jeff Sues homer), four walks, and eleven Ks. Byran Morris, who struck out the first two batters he faced in the first, got the win.

BTW, the Manatees whupped the Bucs 6-4 last spring.

-- How much do the Bucs think of Chase Headley, the Padre third-sacker? Well, enough that they offered Nate McLouth and Xavier Nady for him a couple of seasons ago, according to MLB.com's Corey Brock.

-- The Pirates have their entire 40-man roster under contract today; they renewed all the players with zero-three years of service. They are Ramon Aguero, Jose Ascanio, Jeff Clement, Argenis Diaz, Joel Hanrahan, Kevin Hart, Gorkys Hernandez, Chris Jakubauskas, Jason Jaramillo, Brandon Jones, Garrett Jones, Andy LaRoche, Brad Lincoln, Andrew McCutchen, Daniel McCutchen, Evan Meek, Lastings Milledge, Bryan Morris, Charlie Morton, Brandon Moss, Ross Ohlendorf, Steve Pearce, John Raynor, Jose Tabata, Ronald Uviedo, Donnie Veal, Neil Walker, and Delwyn Young. That's a young team.

-- A couple of old Bucco farmhands have found new organizations: the Yankees signed RHP John Van Benschoten, the eighth overall pick of the Pirates in 2001. He was mauled as a White Sox AAA arm last year, going 2-8 with a 6.35 ERA for Charlotte. JVB, soon to be 30, was the #24 prospect in all of baseball in 2003.

1B Brad Eldred inked a deal with the Rockies; the 29 year-old was in the Nat system last year.

-- Wednesday's Yankee clash will be aired on 104.7 FM, WPGB. It will also be televised on MLB Network and on MLB.TV.

-- Charlie Morton is keeping a camp blog at Pirates Report; it gives the dish on how the players interact during training.

-- MLB Network's look at the Pirates in its spring training series "30 Clubs in 30 Days" will be available March 8 from Comcast On Demand.

-- Interesting article in Fox Sports by Tracy Ringolsby about how the Rockies approach their contracts.

For example, they signed Brad Hawpe to a team-friendly deal, and despite rumors of him being shopped, they held on to him because..."to trade Hawpe would send a strong message. It would have told players that the franchise wanted the players to make concessions to be a part of the big picture in Colorado, but as soon as it was convenient for management, the player could be dealt even if he did go out of his way to fit into the overall scheme."

Unlike a certain management team we all know, hey?