A 68-94 team, coming off a 15th consecutive losing season, standing pat?

Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson has no problem with it.

"There's always free agents out there, but we're never expected to do a lot with that anyway," said Wilson, among the Pittsburgh Pirate contingent making a winter caravan stop at Butler Catholic last week.

PirateFest wrapped up Sunday and pitchers and catchers report to Bradenton, Fla., Feb. 15. The first full squad workout is Feb. 20.

"We had the team we wanted on the field last year. To not do anything makes sense. The mix of younger players and older players is exactly what we wanted last year. I'm not surprised we didn't make any moves," Wilson said.

The Pirates' starting lineup appears set going into spring training, with the exception of center field. Rookie Nyger Morgan and young veteran Nate McLouth are battling for that spot.

"It's good to have competition for spots and we won't have much of that ... But we'll be playing with a chip on our shoulder this year,"Wilson said. "We didn't have anybody have the year they wanted to last year."

The 2007 Pirates did hit a club record 322 doubles, played a club-record 99 errorless games and led the major leagues by turning 190 double plays.

But 15 seasons of losing gets old — and Wilson has been there for seven of them.

He's a little surprised to be back for his eighth season with the Bucs after being the subject of trade rumors since July.

"I've spent a quarter of my life in Pittsburgh. My kids, my wife, we all love it here,"Wilson said. "I've always been treated well by the fans and the community.

"I'm surprised that I'm back, but I'm happy to be here. I'm looking forward to turning it around."

The Pirates will try reversing their fortunes with a new managerial team and likely their 10th different Opening Day center fielder in 14 years — since Andy Van Slyke departed after the 1994 season.

Jacob Brumfield, Mike Kingery, Jermaine Allensworth, Brant Brown, Chad Hermansen, Adrian Brown, Tike Redman and Chris Duffy are among the parade of players who have tried to hold down the center field position for the Pirates in recent years and failed.

Despite missing three months of Class AAA ball last year due to injury, Morgan stole 26 bases and hit .305 at Indianapolis last season, earning a late-season promotion to the Pirates.

He ended the season with an 11-game hitting streak and batted .299 in 107 at bats with the Bucs.

"It's going to be great competition between myself and Nate,"Morgan said. "I can't say enough about Nate, because he helped me out when I first came up. It's going to be an interesting spring training."

McLouth hit 13 homers and 21 doubles in 329 at bats last year. He stole 22 bases as well. Morgan's game is all about speed.

"I don't even have to steal a base. Just my presence out there is going to make the pitcher nervous,"Morgan said.

"I love playing defense. It's a huge part of my game and I work on getting better at it every day," he added.

After the 2007 season ended, Morgan played for Arizona Fall League champion Phoenix, where he hit .258 and stole 10 bases in 24 games.

"I played with and met a lot of guys who have had big league time,"Morgan said. "I introduced myself and got my feet wet a little more."

Pitching-wise, the Pirates' starting rotation is set. The bullpen is another story.

Minor league free agents Jaret Wright, Casey Fossum and Hector Carrasco all signed with the Pirates last week and have a chance to earn a role on the staff.

"Matt Capps, Damaso Marte and and John Grabow pretty much have spots,"pitching coach Jeff Andrews said. "Beyond that, it's wide open. It's going to be interesting sorting all of that out."

Andrews is part of a new coaching staff under new manager John Russell. The Pirates have a new front office staff as well, headed by team president Frank Coonelly and general manager Neal Huntington.

The organization has overhauled its entire minor league and scouting system.

"The front office stuff doesn't affect us much as players,"Wilson said. "We have to do our job and that's playing baseball.

"I've heard nothing but good things about John Russell from players who played for him in the minor leagues. I'm excited to hear his first speech in spring training, to see what direction he's going to take us."