It is not easy projecting who will have the most difficult job among the all-new coaching staff working under Pirates manager Jim Tracy.

		KEY DATES Today: Pitchers and catchers report Tomorrow: First workout Tuesday: Position players report Wednesday: First full-squad workout; game vs. Manatee Community College, 12:05 p.m., Bradenton, Fla. March 2: First Grapefruit League game, vs. Washington, 1:05 p.m., Viera, Fla. GENE COLLIER What's Wells worth if he pitches well?

The one overseeing the hitters who were among the National League's least efficient last season?

Or the one overseeing the pitchers who were among the league's most generous?

Hitting coach Jeff Manto or pitching coach Jim Colborn?

Tracy does not rank one above the other, but he seems to grasp the challenges ahead for both. And he uses strong words to express his confidence they can meet them, beginning with the first workout of spring training tomorrow in Bradenton, Fla.

"No question in my mind," Tracy said. "You are talking about people who have great baseball minds and are tireless workers."

For Manto, 41, the challenge will include being new to the duty. His fast-track coaching career includes one year as a Class A coach, another as a Class A manager, and the past three years as the Pirates' minor-league roving hitting instructor.

Tracy had sought to bring along Tim Wallach, his batting coach in Los Angeles the past two years, but Wallach chose to remain on the West Coast. From there, the Pirates made Manto the lone member of the new staff to come from inside the organization.

"I'm excited about Jeff Manto, what he could bring to our hitters," general manager Dave Littlefield said. "He's had a lot of experience and coached with a lot of quality people, and he brings a lot of energy to the job."

Manto played 16 years of professional baseball, including nine in the majors as a utility infielder. He had a .230 career average but one moment of glory with the Baltimore Orioles in 1995, when he became the 24th player in history to homer in four consecutive at-bats.

"He was the type who got everything he could out of his ability," Tracy said. "And the reason he did that was his intelligence level and a set of personal expectations that were higher than guys he was competing against."

The group of hitters Manto inherits will be markedly different than last year's, and that might be a good thing. The Pirates ranked ninth in the 16-team league in batting average (.259), 15th in on-base percentage (.322), 12th in home runs (139) and 14th in walks (471).

"My job is to have them prepared," Manto said. "I'm not a guy who's going to be hounding guys to change, but they want and will get information."

A lack of patience long has been a bugaboo for Pirates hitters, but Manto has no plan to isolate on drawing more walks.

"Do we want Jason Bay walking if a pitch is an inch outside and there's a man on third? I'm not so sure. There's a time to walk and a time to understand what's going on."

Colborn, 59, will be not be a newcomer to his role or Tracy. They worked together in all five of Tracy's seasons with Los Angeles, and Colborn gained a widespread reputation for getting the most out of many of his pitchers.

That included an immaculate 2003 in which the Dodgers' ERA of 3.16 was 0.57 lower than any other team in Major League Baseball. That group, headlined by 16-game winner Kevin Brown, was one of two since 1968 to record more strikeouts than hits allowed. The team ERA was among the top four in the league in three of the past four seasons, the 4.38 mark of last year providing the exception.

Tracy lauds Colborn's personality -- a human touch often applied with a dry sense of humor -- as much as his background.

"To me, he's one of the game's best pitching coaches in the National or American leagues," Tracy said. "He has not only the ability to teach the physical aspects of the game, but also the ability to communicate with his pitchers."

Colborn is reluctant to delve too deeply into analysis of his pitchers yet, but he is aware there is ample room for improvement. The Pirates' ERA of 4.42 last year ranked 13th, the starters completed only four games, and no team issued more than their 612 walks.

"Right now, my job is just going to be to observe and learn for a while," Colborn said. "But I know there is talent here."

Of the rest of Tracy's staff, the most visible might be third base coach Jeff Cox. And not because of anything he does on the field.

As Cox illustrated at minicamp last month, he is as likely to be seen offering serious instruction as he is to skip or sprint down a hallway. As likely to spin an old baseball yarn as he is to shout out a greeting in a playfully stammering manner.

And this exuberance, he claims, comes without the jolt of a sunrise java.

"I'm just happy to be here," he will say with a wide smile.

"Every team needs people like that," Tracy said. "It's not just what he does as a third base coach, and I happen to be believe he's very good at what he does. Having this guy as a buffer between my office and the clubhouse ... that's huge."

Cox, 50, has spent 13 years as a minor-league manager and the past five as a major-league coach, including being Jack McKeon's bullpen coach on Florida's 2003 World Series championship team. Cox spent the next two seasons as the Marlins' third base coach.

"He has an aggressive, sensible mind-set at third when waving home a runner, and that's what I like," Tracy said. "It's a matter of being completely aware of the situation, and he always is."

Cox also will serve as the infield instructor, a role filled in Florida the past 12 years by Perry Hill.

"Having someone teaching our infielders who has learned from someone as respected as Perry Hill, that means a lot," Tracy said.

The staff member with whom Tracy will work the closest is bench coach Jim Lett.

Lett, 55, has spent 10 years as a minor-league manager and the past four under Tracy in Los Angeles. Most of his background is in pitching, but his secondary role will be working with the catchers.

"He has a tremendous baseball mind," Tracy said. "When I have someone like that sitting next to me, I feel confident there is not too much that's going to get by us during the course of a game."

First base coach John Shelby, 48, predated Tracy in the Dodgers' organization, going back 14 years. He spent five seasons as a minor-league manager and has been a major-league coach since 1998. He also will serve as the Pirates' outfield instructor.

Tracy pointed to the improvement shown last season by utilityman Mike Edwards -- a non-roster invitee for the Dodgers last spring and again this year with the Pirates -- in trying regular outfield duty for the first time.

"It was exceptional," Tracy said. "And that was from day in, day out, working with John Shelby. One thing you'll see us do is constantly work with players on their versatility. Having Shelby around makes a big difference."

Bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar's hiring marks a return to the majors after spending the past four seasons as the Minnesota Twins' Class AAA pitching coach. Before that, Cuellar, 53, served two years as pitching coach for the Seattle Mariners and four with the Montreal Expos.

Cuellar's time in Seattle coincided with Colborn's tenure as a scout there.

"Colby wanted another pitching coach, a sounding board, another set of eyes," Tracy said. "To have someone of Cuellar's background is a great luxury, I think."