MLB Insiders - Pittsburgh Pirates

Perhaps no Pirates player is more excited about the start of spring training than Nate McLouth.

McLouth will have a chance to compete for the starting center field/leadoff job with rookie Nyjer Morgan and Chris Duffy, who figures to be no more of a dark horse in this derby as he is recovering from shoulder surgery performed last August.

While manager John Russell isn't handicapping the competition, it would seem McLouth rates as the morning-line favorite. He is coming off a solid 2007, his second full season in the major leagues, as he hit .258 with 13 home runs, a team-high 22 stolen bases in 23 attempts and a solid .351 on-base percentage in 137 games and 382 plate appearances.

"I feel like I'm ready to play every day in the major leagues," McLouth said. "Certainly, I'm not the most objective person in the world about the subject, but I felt I proved to myself last season that I can be a regular. I felt that when I got the chance to play regularly that I was consistent on a day-in and day-out basis."

McLouth was a bench player two years ago and for the first half of last season until Duffy sprained his ankle in late June and went on the disabled list. McLouth got the opportunity to play regularly in July and August before Morgan got a September call-up and hit .299 with seven steals and a .359 on-base percentage in 28 games.

Morgan made more of an immediate impact as he regularly got on the highlight shows by making a number of spectacular catches.

McLouth doesn't do spectacular all that often. However, he prides himself on being steady and wins high marks from opposing managers and scouts for his strong fundamental play, outstanding instincts and overall feel for the game.

"I think I'm the type of guy that you don't really appreciate unless you see me play every day," McLouth said. "I'm not going to hit the 500-foot home run or make the jaw-dropping catch too often. However, I do take a lot of pride in is being a guy who you can count on every day.

"That's why it was so good to get that chance to play every day for a couple of months. I feel like I really had a chance to show off my strengths."

McLouth has always seemingly been an afterthought with the Pirates, dating back to his minor league days. Few in the organization ever projected him as an everyday outfielder, and it has often seemed other organizations value him more.

The amount of respect people around baseball have for McLouth became highlighted at the winter meetings in December in Nashville, Tenn., as his name was linked to a half-dozen teams in trade rumors.

"It's a nice feeling to know teams want you, but I've been a Pirate my whole professional career, and I would prefer to make my mark with the Pirates," McLouth said.

McLouth will get that chance this spring.

"It's exciting," McLouth said. "It's the first spring training where I really have a legitimate chance of winning a starting job. All you ever want as a player is to be in position to control your own destiny, and I feel I've kind of finally got to that point. I'm going to get an opportunity, and it's up to me to prove this spring that I deserve to be the starting center fielder."

--LHP Damaso Marte was held out of drills in early days of spring training because of the flu. Marte, though, was feeling no aftereffects of the neck sprain he suffered last month when he was involved in an automobile accident in his native Dominican Republic.

--1B Doug Mientkiewicz was signed to a minor league contract that will pay him $750,000 if he makes the major league roster and the chance to earn an additional $750,000 in performance bonuses. While 1B Adam LaRoche is entrenched in the lineup, Mientkiewicz will also play second base, third base, left field and right field in order to improve his versatility and chances of making the team. The 33-year-old hit .277 with five home runs and 24 RBIs in 72 games with the New York Yankees last season.

Mientkiewicz has played 917 of his 942 career games at first base in 10 seasons with Minnesota (1998-2004), Boston (2004), the New York Mets (2005), Kansas City (2006) and Yankees (2007). He has played three games in right field, two at second base and one at third base.

"He wants to see if can re-establish his career in more of a utility role, and we're certainly interested to see if he can do so," GM Neal Huntington said.

Mientkiewicz would make an additional $25,000 each for 70 and 80 games played, $50,000 each for 90, 100 and 110 games, $75,000 each for 120 and 130 games, $50,000 each for 275, 300 and 350 plate appearances, $75,000 each for 400 and 450 plate appearances and $100,000 for 500 plate appearances.

--RHP Romulo Sanchez and C Carlos Maldonado were late in arriving to spring training because they were held up by visa problems in their native Venezuela.

--LHP Josh Shortslef was reassigned to minor league camp on just the second day of spring training because of weakness in his throwing shoulder. He will not throw until minor league spring training begins on March 2. Shortslef, 25, was 5-13 with a 4.40 ERA in 27 starts for Class AA Altoona last season.

--C Steve Lerud and C Milver Reyes received late non-roster invitations to major league camp. Lerud, 23, hit .202 with four homers and 31 RBIs in 84 games with high Class A Lynchburg last season, while Reyes, 25, batted a combined .229 with nine RBIs in 41 games with Altoona and Class AAA Indianapolis.

BY THE NUMBERS: 6 -- Games 1B Doug Mientkiewicz, signed to a minor league contract as a free agent, has played at positions other than first base in his 10 major league seasons. He will be used at second base, third base, left field and right field in exhibition games in an effort to increase his versatility.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "A lot of guys move from the outfield or third base to first base late in their careers. I'm just doing it in reverse." -- 1B Doug Mientkiewicz.