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Notes: Trade Targets, Lindblom Role, Liz Deal Holdup, Completing the Rodriguez Deal

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There weren’t many big rumors surrounding the Pittsburgh Pirates in today’s Winter Meetings. That’s not unexpected, since their main focus will be adding a starting pitcher, and the starting pitching market won’t open up until Jon Lester signs, which could be in the next day. Here are the smaller scale updates from day one of the Winter Meetings.

**Rob Biertempfel says that the Pirates inquired on Jeff Samardzija and John Danks, but that a deal doesn’t seem likely since both teams are looking for MLB talent. Jeff Passan says that the White Sox and Athletics were talking about Samardzija, including who they might be talking about in return.

Susan Slusser says that the A’s are targeting young shortstops in deals.

The only young shortstop the Pirates have is Jordy Mercer, and it wouldn’t make sense to deal him. As for Danks, that doesn’t seem like the type of pitcher they should be going after.

**The Pirates did claim a player today, taking Josh Lindblom from the Oakland Athletics. Bill Brink has a quote from Neal Huntington saying Lindblom could come in and compete as a multi-inning reliever in the bullpen. Here is Lindblom’s player page.

**The Radhames Liz deal isn’t official yet. Brink quotes Huntington, saying that the holdup “is more administrative in nature”, and that they’re working through details of the contract.

**I’ve mentioned several times that the trade for Sean Rodriguez will probably be completed after the Rule 5 draft. Typically when a player is dealt for a PTBNL at this time of year, the player to be named is a guy who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Teams wait until after the draft to see which players weren’t selected. Biertempfel confirms that this is the case.

Here is a list of the eligible players.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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