Morning trade dope

John Perrotto for the Beaver County Times reports:

[On the Redman trade} "This gives us a chance to use the money in different areas, maybe pursue players on a different level now," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said.

The Pirates have made a two-year offer to free-agent third baseman Bill Mueller worth a reported $7 million and could possibly increase it. They might also step up their pursuit of free agent Nomar Garciaparra to play third.

The Pirates' chances of trading for Washington first baseman/outfielder Brad Wilkerson and Texas outfielder Kevin Mench appeared to end Wednesday, though, as they were rebuffed in trade proposals.

The Pirates also have interest in Toronto outfielder Alex Rios, though they refuse to part with rookie lefty Paul Maholm. Rios, 24, hit .262 with 10 homers, 59 RBIs and 14 steals in 146 games last season.

I'd be stepping up those trade offers before I'm beefing up those offers to these free agents.

Dejan Kovacevic for the Post-Gazette reports:

Strong indications on the third day of Major League Baseball's winter meetings were that it would be on a reliever with experience in late innings, an area Littlefield reiterated was his top priority after first base.

Argh - my head hurts! That is sooooooo wrong.

Two relievers in whom the Pirates have shown a strong interest are Braden Looper and Roberto Hernandez, agent Randy Hendricks confirmed last night.

Looper, 31, had 28 saves in 36 opportunities last season as the New York Mets' closer and a 3.94 earned run average. He made $5.3 million and is seeking a two-year deal on a similar pay scale.

Hernandez, 41, was Looper's setup man and made 67 appearances while posting a 2.58 ERA. Because of his age, he surely would have to settle for one year.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Get your relievers as NRIs when you're last in the league scoring runs. Now is not the time to cool your pursuit of a middle-of-the-lineup hitter.

DK also has the Bucs looking at Craig Monroe and Trot Nixon. Both those guys sound like logical targets.