PITTSBURGH PIRATES GM says plenty will be decided in spring training

Dave Littlefield talked with area fans before today's open house at PNC Park.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Who do you think will be in the Pittsburgh Pirates' opening day lineup?
Right now, your guess is as good as that of general manager Dave Littlefield's.
In a visit with about 125 Pirates fans Friday at the Butler Museum of American Art, Littlefield said there are many lineup questions that will be answered during this month's spring training games in Florida.
"We're going to see how spring training plays out," said Littlefield when asked who will fill out the heart of the batting order. "Certainly, [outfielder Jason] Bay, [first baseman] Craig Wilson will be around there, based on the production they gave us last year."
A lot of the mystery will be solved once the Pirates decide whether outfielder Matt Lawton, who was traded to the Bucs by the Indians, will be the leadoff batter.
"We're going to have to look at [last year's leadoff] Tike Redman and see how he fits in," Littlefield said. "Lawton's shown some power and has certainly shown on-base [skills].
"We don't really have many options as far as other guys than Lawton to lead off," Littlefield said. "Tike -- you'd like to think that he'd be someone like that but he hasn't gotten on base a whole lot recently."
Championship goals
Coming off a 72-89 record -- the Pirates' 12th straight losing season -- Littlefield said the club's goal remains to build a championship team.
This year's squad will be built around starting pitching. Littlefield said Kip Wells, Oliver Perez, Mark Redman and Josh Fogg will be the top four starters, with Dave Williams and Ryan Vogelsong contending for the fifth spot. Long shots are Todd Ritchie and Albie Lopez.
Perez, whom the Pirates acquired along with Bay in the 2003 trade with San Diego for Brian Giles, finished 12-10 with a 2.98 earned run average in 2004.
Bay missed all of April last season then went on to become the National League Rookie of the Year by batting .282 with 26 homers and 82 RBIs.
"We have some young players coming back that should improve and help us win more games," Littlefield said. "Perez is 23-years-old and coming off his first year of consistent pitching. My sense is that he will have a better year. He's very driven, very motivated and highly talented."
The major change for the Pirates will be behind the plate now that nine-year veteran Jason Kendall has been traded to Oakland.
"We'll miss him, but [the trade] gives us more flexibility to get more players," said Littlefield, who added that veteran Benito Santiago and rookie Humberto Cota will split time at catcher.
More moves to make
Littlefield said he's not done acquiring players.
"I'd like to get some more offense," Littlefield said. "We need to score more runs."
Littlefield flew north on Friday to be in Pittsburgh for today's open house at PNC Park. Individual game tickets go on sale this morning at 10, including for the Youngstown Community Day game May 1 at 1:35 p.m. when the Pirates play host to the San Francisco Giants.
Opening day is April 4 at 1:35 p.m. against the Milwaukee Brewers.
For tickets, fans with a credit card may call 1-800-BUY-BUCS or log on to & lt;www.pittsburghpirates.com & gt; to purchase.
Asked if he believes fans care less than the media about baseball's steroids problem, Littlefield said, "I think everyone cares about it to a certain degree. Obviously, there are health implications, what kind of affect has it had with some of the high-profile players.
"My sense is that there is a concern," Littlefield said. "The very positive thing that came out of this is that we had a negotiated contract that was basically reopened to strengthen the drug-testing policy, which in labor law is very, very unusual."