PIRATES Bucs brace for life without Wells

If he has surgery, he'll likely miss several months -- at least.
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) -- Pittsburgh Pirates players on Monday sounded like they were bracing for life without starting pitcher Kip Wells, who has a blood clot near his right throwing arm.
If Wells has surgery, he'll likely miss several months, possibly the whole season. A decision was expected within the next five days, Pittsburgh general manager Dave Littlefield said.
Wells was back in Bradenton after spending three days in St. Louis, where his condition was diagnosed by Dr. Robert Thompson, a vascular surgeon at Washington University, Littlefield said. Wells was not with the team.
If Wells is out for any lengthy span, the Pirates will be missing an important member of their rotation. Although he was 8-18 last season, he led the staff with 182 innings and has a career 4.36 ERA.
"It's tough," another starter, Oliver Perez, said. "It's a big loss. We just have to keep going for him and hope he can be ready to come back quickly."
Young rotation
Perez and Wells were going to be the only veterans of the Pittsburgh rotation. The only other confirmed starters are Zach Duke and Paul Maholm; both made superb debuts last season, but neither has pitched a full year in the majors.
Perez, Duke and Maholm are all lefties. Wells is a right-hander.
Going into spring training, the Pirates designated three right-handers as competing for the lone vacancy in the rotation -- Victor Santos, Ryan Vogelsong and Ian Snell. Santos has the most starting experience of the three by a wide margin, but he was 4-13 last season for Milwaukee.
There's a chance left-hander Sean Burnett could work into that mix, too, but he is coming off two arm surgeries and has not pitched since 2004. The team's preference is that he begin in Class AAA and reach the majors by June.
Littlefield said he has no plan to go outside the organization for more pitching.
"We're going to start out with this group and see how they do with the talent they have, see how things proceed from here," he said. "I don't think we'll be out there."
Wells has "got some of the best stuff in baseball, and he was looking at a big year," Burnett said. "Someone's got to step in and fill his shoes and pick up those innings for him."
The Pirates do not have an insurance policy on the one-year, $4.15 million contract Wells signed in January. The team generally only insures multiyear contracts.
Notes
Starter Bryan Bullington, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 amateur draft, had his second day of long-tossing. It marked his first throwing since Oct. 17 surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right shoulder. Bullington reached the majors last September. ... Only nine pitchers threw from a mound during the team's three-hour workout. Among those were Perez, Burnett, Snell and reliever Damaso Marte. ... Reliever Giovanni Carrara was excused from the workout because of the flu. ... Pittsburgh will have an intrasquad scrimmage today at 12:30 p.m. at McKechnie Field.