Cheering for some Pirates' players and friends in Friday's winter league action:

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Leones del Caracas  6,  Tigres de Aragua  4  --  Caracas won this battle of the Big Cats.  Los Leones scored first with a solo homer in the top of the 1st.  Los Tigres tied it up in the 2nd inning.  Two singles, including one by 1B Hector Gimenez, and a throwing error put runners on second and third bases.  LF  Lastings Milledge drove in the run with a ground out to third.  Caracas took the lead again in the top of the 3rd, with a walk, a ground out, and an RBI single.  The batter was out at second as he tried to advance on the throw to the plate:  CF Jorge Cortes to C Raul Chavez to SS Ronny Cedeno, who tagged the runner out.  Aragua took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 3rd, with a 3-run homer, after Chavez reached on a fielding error, a single, and Cedeno's sacrifice bunt.  But Los Leones came right back with their own homer for 2 runs in the top of the 4th, then took the lead with another run on two singles.  They added an insurance run in the top of the 9th, on two singles and a throwing error.  Los Tigres did not score again, though Milledge singled in the 4th, Cedeno singled in the 5th, and Cortes singled in the 7th.

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE
Gigantes de Carolina  8,  Criollos de Caguas  3  --  Los Criollos managed only 5 hits, and two of those were by SS Luis Figueroa.  Figueroa singled in the 3rd, and along with two more singles and two walks, Los Criollos scored 2 runs.  Figueroa also reached on an error in the 4th, and that allowed Los Criollos' remaining run to score.  He also singled in the 9th.  3B Ramon Vazquez went 0-for-4 for Caguas.  Los Gigantes scored 2 runs in the 2nd and 4th innings, then added 4 runs in the 7th inning.   



DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Aguilas Cibaenas  10,  Tigres del Licey  3  --  Los Tigres posted 10 hits but left 11 runners on base, scoring only 3 times.  Licey scored a run in the 3rd on two singles and a sacrifice fly.  LF Jake Fox and two others singled in the 7th, and one run scored when C Robinzon Diaz bounced into a double play.  A single and a double gave Los Tigres their last run in the 8th.  Diaz singled for Los Tigres in the 2nd inning, but DH Ronny Paulino (who just signed a contract with the Mets) went 0-for-3 with a walk.  Los Aguilas put up their first run in the 4th, tying the game on two singles, a walk, and a wild pitch.  Then they put the game out of reach with 4 runs in the 6th and 3 runs in the 7th.  Denny Bautista came on to pitch for Licey in the 7th, and he gave up a walk and a 2-RBI double.  Starling Marte scored one of those runs, since he had just come in to pinch-run.  Marte remained in the game to play right field.  He batted again in the 9th, and reached base on a fielding error, though was out on a force play at second.  A walk and a single brought in two more Aguilas' runs in the 9th.  LF Kevin Melillo went 0-for-3 for Los Aguilas.    

The MLB Winter Meetings are over.... back to the winter league action, as we cheer on some new Pirates' players.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE
Leones del Escogido  3,  Tigres del Licey  0  --  New Pirate Caesar Valdez (just acquired from the Diamondbacks as the player-to-be-named-later in the Zach Duke trade) made his 8th start for Licey, but did not get out of the 3rd inning as he suffered his 2nd loss of the season.  Valdez had no trouble in his first inning of work, then gave up a solo home run in the 2nd inning.  He put out the first two batters in the 3rd inning, then gave up three consecutive singles for a run, plus a walk.  Valdez was relieved at that point, with no more runs scoring in the inning.  Los Leones did score one more run in the 5th.  Los Tigres were held to just 4 hits, including one by Indy area native 1B Jake Fox.  3B Andy Marte and C Robinzon Diaz were both hitless in the game.


VENEZUELAN LEAGUE
Bravos de Margarita  5,  Cardenales de Lara  4  --  Los Cardenales tied the score at 4-4 in the top of the 8th on a pair of doubles.  The winning run scored in the bottom of the 9th, when two walks and a hit batter put three Bravos on base.  Another walk forced in the winning run.  Romulo Sanchez pitched to 4 Margarita batters and made 4 outs, finishing the 6th inning for Lara and then pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 7th.  Jhonathan Ramos pitched a scoreless 6th inning for Margarita.  He allowed a double and a walk, with 2 strikeouts. 

Tigres de Aragua  6,  Navegantes de Magallanes  4  --  A game full of Pirates.  Los Tigres posted a pair of 2-run homers in the 5th inning, on their way to 13 total hits.  Every member of the lineup except for C Raul Chavez had at least one hit.  SS Ronny Cedeno, 1B Hector Gimenez, LF Lastings Milledge, and CF Jorge Cortes each had one run.  Wil Ledezma pitched one inning for Los Tigres.  He entered the game in the 7th inning, and was responsible for one run on a solo homer.  Then he began the 8th inning, when he allowed two more runs to score.  Corey Hamman pitched in the top of the 9th for Los Navegantes.  He gave up a single and a pair of intentional walks, but ended the inning and the game without any of those runners scoring.  

Tiburones de La Guaira  5,  Caribes de Anzoategui   3  --  In his second Venezuelan League game, LF Jose Tabata walked and singled for Los Caribes.  He singled in the bottom of the 1st, moving another runner to third base, and that runner came around to score, for 2 runs in the 1st.  Los Tiburones tied the score with 2 runs in the 3rd inning.  They took the lead with a run in the 6th, and Los Caribes tied the score again in the bottom of the 7th, on a walk and two singles.  The game went into extras, and in the top of the 10th, Los Tiburones scored the winning and insurance runs on a 2-run homer.  

After the major league part of the 2010 Rule 5 Draft, in which the Pirates chose SS Josh Rodriguez from the Cleveland Indians, the draft moved on to the minor league section.

In the AAA part, the Pirates chose OF Brad Chalk from the Padres.  Chalk, who will turn 25 in January, was drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 2007 amateur draft.  He played at A level Fort Wayne in 2008, and hit .275 with 43 RBI.  He moved up to A+ Lake Elsinore in 2009, where he hit .301, with 2 home runs and 63 RBI. The South Carolina native split the 2010 season between Lake Elsinore, AA San Antonio, and AAA Portland.  About half of his season was at the AA level, where he hit .214 with 15 RBI in 65 games.  At AAA Portland, Chalk hit .313 with 5 RBI in 27 games, but in late June, he was sent to AA, and then in early August, he was moved down to A+.  Not clear what was going on there.  Not a lot of power in his swing, but at least at the AAA level, he was getting on base often.  

C Travis Scott was chosen from the Angels in the next round of the AAA part of the draft.  This Milwaukee native was drafted out of college in Illinois by the Mariners in the 20th round of the 2005 draft.  He moved slowly up through the Mariners' organization, reaching as high as AA West Tennessee for 4 games in 2010.  Scott began the 2010 season with A+ High Desert, where he hit .269 with 5 homers and 22 RBI, then was moved to West Tennesee at the end of May.  But after just those 4 games, he was released.  Scott played for Rockford in the independent Northern League for 65 games, where he hit .300, with 5 homers and 29 RBI.  He must have been picked up by the Angels at some point, but did not get to play in their organization before being selected in this draft.  

Because Chalk and Scott were chosen in the minor league portion of the draft, they do not have the same requirement to stick with the big league club for the season.  The Pirates can assign them where ever they see fit.  

Also joining the Pirates' organization today is starting pitcher Cesar Valdez.  Valdez is the player-to-be-named in the trade that sent Zach Duke to the Diamondbacks.  Valdez is a Dominican native, who made 18 starts (plus 2 relief appearances) for AAA Reno in the D'backs' organization in 2010.  He earned a 6-10 record with a 5.90 ERA.  In 97.2 innings, he allowed 110 hits and 64 runs, with 49 walks and 92 strikeouts.  Valdez also pitched for Reno in 2009, with slightly better results:  a 7-6 record and a 4.78 ERA in 96 innings, with 103 hits, 51 runs, and 30 walks.  He had only 30 strikeouts that season.  Valdez has been playing in his native Venezuela this winter, making 7 starts and one relief appearance for Los Toros del Licey.  He has a 3-1 record with a 4.14 ERA.  In 37 innings, he has allowed 36 hits and 10 walks, with 21 strikeouts.  Valdez is not automatically added to the 40-man roster, though it's likely he'll be invited to big league camp for spring training and be given a shot to make the major league team.