Once the 2004 season ended, the Pittsburgh Pirates compiled their shopping list.

Increase power at the plate.

Find a veteran pitcher. Gain financial flexibility.

Get more experience.

Get better.

"We feel like we've addressed all of those things," general manager Dave Littlefield said during the Pirates Winter Caravan luncheon Wednesday at Butler County Community College.

"We'd still like to add another power bat and another starting pitcher for depth purposes. We're still talking to a couple of free agents and we're always open to trades," he added.

In other words, the work isn't done. But it appears to be solid up to this point.

By trading catcher Jason Kendall to Oakland, the Pirates were able to land 31-year-old left-handed starting pitcher Mark Redman and 33-year-old outfielder Matt Lawton.

Redman was 11-12 for Oakland last year, making 32 starts and logging 191 innings. That's welcome news to a rotation that lost Kip Wells and Sean Burnett to injuries last year.

"I firmly believe you're as good as your starting rotation," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "For a stretch of three or four weeks in late June and early July, we posted the best record in baseball.

"Wells and Burnett went down and we never recovered."

The rotation suffered further when veteran starter Kris Benson was dealt to the New York Mets.

Lawton hit .277 with 20 homers, 70 RBI, 109 runs scored and 23 stolen bases for Cleveland last season. The Pirates shipped reliever Arthur Rhodes - part of the Kendall deal from Oakland - to the Indians to acquire his services.

"Jason is a hard-nosed player who hits .300 and catches 140 games per year," McClendon said. "We'll miss that, but in Lawton we have a leadoff hitter with more speed and more power."

Veteran catcher Benito Santiago, who turns 40 March 9, was acquired from Kansas City to assist holdover Humberto Cota in replacing Kendall behind the plate.

Santiago hit .274 in just 49 games during an injury-riddled 2004 season. Cota hit .227 with five homers in 36 games with the Pirates a year ago.

"We'll certainly have to be careful how many games we play Santiago," McClendon admitted. "It'll probably be a 60-40 or 50-50 ratio in games played between the two of them. Either way, he'll definitely take a lot of pressure off Cota and will aid his development."

Littlefield explained the Kendall trade by preferring one situation to the other.

"Situation A is keeping an all-star catcher who will give us quality play while limiting our financial flexibility," he said. "Situation B is trading that player for a couple of other quality players while giving us financial flexibility.

"We chose Situation B because it benefits our organization in the short term and the long term."

Besides those new faces, the Pirates have signed a handful of non-roster invitees to spring training, most notably outfielder Ben Grieve and pitcher Todd Ritchie.

Grieve, 28, hit .260 with eight homers and 35 RBI for Milwaukee last season. His last productive year in the big leagues was 2000, when he hit 28 homers. He's had injury problems since.

Ritchie was a 15-game winner for the Pirates a few years ago before being traded to the White Sox for current Pittsburgh starting pitchers Wells and Josh Fogg.

Ritchie was 8-10 with a 4.65 ERA for Milwaukee last year.

"Those are two guys with successful track records in the big leagues," McClendon said. "We're going to see if they can help us."

Grieve hopes to convince the Pirates to keep a sixth outfielder as National League Rookie of the Year Jason Bay, Lawton, Tike Redman, Rob Mackowiak and Craig Wilson figure to have the team made.

Ritchie hopes to join Ryan Vogelsong, Dave Williams and Ian Snell in the battle for the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation, joining Oliver Perez, Wells, Fogg and Mark Redman.

"We have a good idea of our personnel going in to spring training - much more than at this time last year - but anything can develop," McClendon said.

"This is a what have you done for me lately type of business. Any players coming to camp figuring they have a job based on what they did last year are making a big mistake," he added.

Another newcomer to the club - though he played for the Pirates over the final two months of 2004 - is third baseman Ty Wigginton.

He hit 17 home runs overall last year, but batted just .220 with five homers in 58 games for the Bucs.

"He's a hard-nosed player who will settle in this year," McClendon said. "This town will love this guy.

"We were the youngest team in baseball last year. Now we've added some veteran guys and deepened our bench. It's a good mix. It all fits."

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Bradenton, Fla., Feb. 17. The Pirates' first Grapefruit League game is March 4 vs. the New York Yankees.