Sunday Stuff

•  The winter meetings, the official start of the hot stove league, kick off tomorrow. The Pirates will search for another starter and maybe a first baseman, depending on what Derrik Lee decides. He has until Wednesday to accept or nix their arbitration offer. Our guess is he'll opt for the market and start entertaining offers after Sir Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder ink deals. The Pirate FO has also mentioned that they're exploring trades. Hanny, the outfield, and a glut of young, lower level arms are the likeliest bait.
• A couple other upcoming dates of interest: the winter meetings close on Thursday, December 8th with the Rule V draft and arb-eligible players have to be tendered by Monday, December 12th. The Bucs have nine players in that category this year.
• Mark Simon blogged in ESPN that the Bucs may have had an ulterior motive in signing 1B Nick Evans from the Mets. Not only does he hit pretty well against lefties, but in limited action last season, he tied for the league lead in runs saved at the position with 7. The Sabermetric driven FO continues in its efforts to shore up the Bucco D, as last year's Pirate firstbasemen surrendered 11 more runs than average with their glovework.
• For our female readers, bad news: Neil Walker was married Saturday. Congratulations and we wish a long happy life for the couple. And it is still possible; GW has logged 33 years with his bride and never been thrown out the house even once (through no fault of his own, lol).