Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Pirates pitcher Zach Duke signs autographs between workouts at Bradenton, Fla. Click photo for larger image.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Zach Duke is not certain how his contract situation with the Pirates will play out, but he apparently plans to make no fuss about it.

"It's no big deal," he said yesterday. "Really."

Duke, who was brilliant in his half-season as a rookie in 2005, has been offered a one-year deal for $335,000. That would be $8,000 more than Major League Baseball's minimum salary and a $19,000 raise on his salary of last season.

Because Duke has less than three years of experience, the team can impose any terms it wishes, even if he refuses to sign. The Pirates have set a March 2 deadline for completing such contracts.

When a player refuses to sign, it is nothing more than a sign of protest. The terms remain intact and non-negotiable.

Asked if he has decided whether or not he will sign, Duke replied, "I don't really know what's going on right now."

Mark Pieper, his California-based agent, said last night he hopes to have negotiations with the Pirates before their deadline.

"We've got another week," Pieper said. "We haven't even had a discussion about this."

A year ago, another starting pitcher, Oliver Perez, and outfielder Jason Bay refused to sign similar contracts.

Perez, entering his third year, balked at the Pirates' salary offer of $381,000, the highest in franchise history for a player of that experience level. He was coming off a season of a 2.98 earned run average and 239 strikeouts. Bay, entering his second year, balked at $355,000 after being named National League Rookie of the Year.

"The situations with Oliver and Jason were different," Duke said. "They had done more."

Duke was asked if he might have done more, too, had the Pirates not waited until July 2 to promote him from Class AAA.

"We'll never know."

In 14 starts, he went 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA and was named the league's rookie of the month in two of his three months in the majors.

Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield was criticized in some circles a year ago for his handling of Perez and Bay, but his stance now is no different than it was then.

"It's a system the players and owners agreed upon," Littlefield said. "Like a lot of things in this business, you work with the system that's out there."

As he did last year, Littlefield shrugged off the notion that a player can become embittered in the process.

"I don't think it has any real significance in the big picture."

There is recent evidence of that: This offseason, Perez signed a one-year, $1.9 million contract in his first year of arbitration eligibility, and Bay signed a four-year, $18.25 million deal that bought out all three of his arbitration years.

Good day for Maholm

The highlight of the two-hour workout yesterday at Pirate City was an extended mound session by starter Paul Maholm.

Maholm missed a day early in camp because of a slightly strained hamstring, but this round -- which he estimated at 80 pitches -- quelled any lingering doubts.

Duke, too, seemed to ratchet up his repertoire.

"I felt like I was in control of my body and had command of my pitches," he said. "So I just let it go a little bit."

Buried treasure

Also among the 13 pitchers working off mounds was reliever Damaso Marte, who did not pitch the previous four days because of the flu.

Starter John Van Benschoten participated in a long-toss session for the first time since being shut down Feb. 15 because of stiffness in his surgically-repaired right shoulder. He still has no timetable to resume pitching.

Monday is the tentative day for starter Bryan Bullington to make his first throws since October surgery on his right shoulder.