BRADENTON, Fla. -- As dozens of the Pirates played catch, stretched and ran at the team's sunsplashed training complex yesterday morning, manager Lloyd McClendon and his staff huddled inside his office for three hours of meetings.

Today is the reporting deadline for pitchers and catchers, tomorrow the first formal workout.

What happens beyond that will be determined primarily by the players, especially the core of young talent. But the responsibility for how they perform surely will fall on McClendon.

He is entering his fifth season at the Pirates' helm and has yet to win, having gone 281-365 in his first four. To boot, he is entering the final year of his contract with no assurances that general manager Dave Littlefield will renew it.

McClendon this week answered questions from the Post-Gazette about spring training:

Q: So much of this spring and the coming season, here and around baseball, is sure to be dominated by discussion of steroids. What will it take for baseball to get past it?

A: It's going to take winning the fans' trust. And that will take time. Time heals all and, hopefully, that's going to be the case here.

We need to do our business in the fashion we're supposed to do it and show our fans that we appreciate them. Hopefully, we'll win them back.

A: Not at all. My club is squeaky clean, and I'm very grateful for that. I appreciate my players for working as hard as they have.

A: That stability is nice. It's great. But it doesn't add up to much if they're not talented. I like having a left-handed hitter, but having a left-handed hitter just for the sake of having a left-handed hitter doesn't mean a damned thing if he can't hit.

What matters most is that we do have talent. We have a talented group that should get better. Obviously, whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

A: It's something we've worked very hard on, and it's something I give Dave a lot of credit for. Since he came in three years ago, he's made sure that the teaching is going both ways in the organization, up and down through the system.

That's important, particularly at the higher levels. Guys who are a step away from the majors need to be able to help your club when they get called up. Those things shouldn't be getting taught in the majors, and I don't think they are anymore.

A: I sure couldn't give you an answer right now. We've got Tike Redman, Rob Mackowiak and ... if Dave can find anything on the market, that would be a piece. Other than that, we don't have anybody else who is going to compete for that job.

A: If you've got to hope, you have problems. We've got a couple of guys who are talented and, obviously, have shown they have the capability to play out there. Whether or not they can play it on a consistent basis is another thing.

I'm not hoping. This is between Redman and Mackowiak. I'm going to run them out there, and somebody's got to win the job.

A: The name that comes to mind, I have to say, is Kip Wells.

I think he had a very disappointing year last year [5-7 record, 4.55 earned run average], and he'll tell you the same thing. That's particularly true coming off the year he had before [10-9, 3.28 ERA]. But, if you ask me if he's the one to make the next step up, I think he will. He can be an outstanding pitcher.

A: Jose's still very young, and he's certainly got a lot of potential. He's a tremendously talented young man.

I'm not sure what I'm going to get from him this year. I expect improvement across the board, but I'm not sure.

Another one I might mention here is Ty Wigginton. I think he has a chance to be a pretty good player for us.

A: No. 1, we've got to stay healthy. I think we have a talented group of guys but, obviously, depth is always a concern when you have the constraints that we have financially.

No. 2, we need the guys who are capable of having big years have that kind of a year. That's especially true of our pitching staff, but also from a run-production standpoint.

If we can do both of those, we've got a pretty good chance of having a very successful year.

A: You know, you have to block that stuff out and manage. If you're thinking about that kind of stuff, you're not going to be a very good manager. Hell, I've played and performed under pressure all my life. Certainly, this is no different.

One thing I've always felt is that my players take on my personality. If I'm sitting there worried about my contract ... nothing's going to work.