The Pirates are continuing to negotiate with Donnie Veal and Brian Burres for minor league deals for 2011. “[We are] continuing good dialogue and continuing to remain optimistic on both fronts. [There is] nothing tangible at this point,” Huntington said.

General Manager Neal Huntington also said he was interested in stretching Sean Gallagher back into a starter. Gallagher was out righted off the waivers in November, but could be an option for the Triple-A Indy rotation.

“In a strange way, being able to outright Sean may actually help his career. We’d love to see him start. But he was caught in that no-man’s land of being out of options and not wanting to lose him so you keep him on the Major League club. In Sean’s case, this may actually help. We’d love to get him stretched back out. We love the arm. He started in winter ball. He wants to start. He’s going to be given every chance in the world to make our club. There is open mindset to him being a starter.”