BRADENTON, Fla. -- Kip Wells or no, the Pirates' plan is to stay in house to form their starting rotation.

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So replied general manager Dave Littlefield yesterday when asked if he might try to fortify a staff that could be as green as any in Major League Baseball.

"We're going to start off with this group and see how they do with the talent they have and see how things proceed," he said. "We've got a variety of options, and I'm anxious to see them compete and perform."

That anxiety might be easily explained.

If Wells opts to have surgery on the blood clot near his right arm -- he made no decision as of yesterday, Littlefield said -- the Pirates' only confirmed starters would be Oliver Perez, Zach Duke and Paul Maholm. All are 24 or younger, and Perez's total of 89 career starts towers above Duke's 14 and Maholm's six.

And those are the known commodities.

Of the five pitchers being given a realistic chance to challenge for the rotation, Victor Santos is by far the most experienced with 65 career starts, but he is coming off a 4-13 season with the Milwaukee Brewers and working for his fifth major-league employer.

Ryan Vogelsong, 28, is next with 33 starts, but he made none last season and has a career record of 10-22.

Sean Burnett, Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny each is perceived as having prime potential, but Burnett is coming off two arm surgeries, and the latter two barely have tasted the majors.

"There is inexperience," Littlefield said. "But there's talent, too. To have guys perform as well as they have, like Duke, Maholm and Snell -- he's been outstanding in the minors -- and the talent that Vogelsong and Burnett have, I still feel good about the quality of our starting pitching."

One rotation spot was open when camp started, and members of management most often cited Santos, Vogelsong and Snell as the candidates. Yesterday, though, when discussing the two vacancies there might soon be, Littlefield also included the names of Burnett -- with an asterisk attached because of his recovery -- and Gorzelanny, whom he described as "very talented."

"All these guys are on the radar, but it depends on how they do," Littlefield said. "We're open-minded to anything."

	For starters The Pirates would have had an inexperienced rotation even with Kip Wells, owner of 168 career starts and a 55-69 record. The other players who will or could be part of the staff, ranked in order of games started: Player Age Starts W-L Oliver Perez 24 89 27-30 Victor Santos 29 65 17-33 Ryan Vogelsong 28 33 10-22 Zach Duke 22 14 8-2 Sean Burnett 23 13 5-5 Paul Maholm 23 6 3-1 Ian Snell 24 6 1-3 Tom Gorzelanny 23 1 0-1

"There is strength in numbers, and we've got those," manager Jim Tracy said. "And you're not going to hear me say that, just because we're young, we can't go out and pitch well or play the game at the level you need to be successful."

Another factor in Littlefield's choice to go status quo, he explained, was that neither the trade market nor the free-agent market -- only Pedro Astacio and Jamey Wright are remaining and affordable -- provided attractive options for acquiring starting pitching.

"It's difficult to get, and it's expensive," he said. "And I think the talent level we have is likely better than what we might be able to acquire out there."

That opinion, as should be no surprise, was shared by the pitchers.

"I think it's here. I really do," Vogelsong said. "I mean, you hate to lose a teammate, especially in this case for me because Kip and I are pretty good friends. But I definitely think the talent's still here to win and pick up his innings."

Wells was 8-18 with a 5.08 earned run average last season, but he led the staff with 182 innings.

"Everybody's got to pick it up," Gorzelanny said. "And I think we've got the arms to do it."

Wells did not rejoin the team yesterday, but he was back in Bradenton after three days in St. Louis. That is where he was diagnosed Saturday as having complete blockage of the axillary-subclavian vein that runs to his right arm.

Littlefield said there was no change in Wells' status and reiterated that Wells' decision regarding surgery is expected sometime this week.

Some of Wells' teammates clearly were moved by the news of his ailment.

"It's a big loss, for Kip and for us," Perez said. "We just have to keep going for him and hope he can be ready to come back quickly."

"He's got some of the best stuff in baseball and was looking at a big year, so you hate to see it," Burnett said. "If there's a good thing, though, it's that Kip will finally have answers after being bothered by little things for so long. And you know what? He's probably the hardest worker in this locker room. If he does need a procedure, you can be sure he'll be ahead of his rehab schedule the whole way through."

The impact of Wells' situation could be felt on the Pirates' ledger, too.

The team did not take out an insurance policy on Wells' one-year contract worth $4.15 million, signed in January. As a general rule, the team limits insurance to multiyear contracts, and only outfielder Jason Bay, shortstop Jack Wilson and reliever Salomon Torres have those.

Wells will be eligible for free agency after this season.