Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Jose Bautista takes a ground ball during infield practice at the Pirates' training camp. Click photo for larger image. Related articles Smizik: Littlefield is doing right thing not spending money foolishly

Some Major League Baseball players approach winter ball the way a student approaches detention: Serve your time, then skip out at the first chance.

Jose Bautista had planned to stay with his team in the Dominican Republic right up until Christmas, then take a breather before spring training. But, even though he has appeared in 44 of his Dicey club's 45 games, even though he has put up some of the league's best numbers, even though he has drawn the praise of the Pirates' evaluators ...

"I'm going to hang around a little longer, I think," he said by phone Friday. "Things are going really well for me here."

Bautista is batting .291 with 4 home runs, 9 doubles, 1 triple and 21 RBIs in 141 at-bats. But the most impressive figure is his eye-popping .439 on-base percentage, the result of having 34 walks to just 28 strikeouts.

The latter is a dramatic improvement over his first full season in the majors, when he walked 46 times in 400 at-bats and struck out 110 times on his way to a .235 average. When he was patient, as manager Jim Tracy often pointed out, he hit for promising power and reached base regularly. When he hacked away, he did neither.

"The main thing was to work on my two-strike approach, and I feel I've accomplished a lot with that," Bautista said. "I've had a lot of long at-bats. I'm seeing a lot of pitches. Pitchers here try to get you to chase a lot of bad balls, and I feel I've done well waiting for my pitch."

The Pirates have noticed.

	The calendar Dates of note in the coming weeks: Jan 5-12: Salary arbitration filing. Jan. 9: Hall of Fame voting announced. Jan. 14: Pirates winter caravan begins at Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Jan. 16: Exchange of salary arbitration figures. Jan. 17-18: Owners meetings, Phoenix. Jan. 26-28: Pirates FanFest at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Feb. 1-21: Salary arbitration hearings. Feb. 15: Voluntary reporting date for pitchers, catchers and injured players. Feb. 20: Voluntary reporting date for other players.

"We've been pleased," general manager Dave Littlefield said. "And that's not just statistically -- because you've always got to be cautious with that in winter ball -- but also from what our scouting and development staff have seen."

Bautista bounced all over the field last season, and he is not guaranteed a starting position. But it appears he will get a good chance to win one this spring.

All the Pirates will say at this point is that Bautista or Jose Castillo will win whichever infield spot Freddy Sanchez does not claim. Sanchez played third base last season but could move to second.

"I don't think anything's set in stone there, but we're optimistic that this guy's going to be a good major-league player," Littlefield said of Bautista. "Whether that's at third base or some utility value, I can't say right now. Certainly, Freddy will play. But the other two guys ... you can't decide these things on paper."

Bautista's take?

"I think I'm good enough to be a starter for the 2007 Pittsburgh Pirates," he said.

Buried treasure

Castillo has not exactly lagged behind Bautista this winter: He is batting .333 for Caracas in the Venezuelan League, with five home runs and 39 RBIs in 141 at-bats. He, too, has shown patience -- highly uncharacteristic, at that -- with 25 walks and 19 strikeouts. Littlefield said the Pirates have been satisfied with Castillo's work, as well.

Might it be difficult to bench Castillo, still young at age 26 and still holding so much potential? "It's not difficult if you get better players," Littlefield said.

Closer Mike Gonzalez said his Dec. 11 checkup on his elbow went "better than great." He expects to resume light tossing after Christmas and could be ready to throw by minicamp next month. "I'm not 100 percent. I'm 110 percent, man," he said Friday night. "It's strong, flexible, and I'm ready to go."

Gonzalez, on whether the trade talk is bothering him: "Not at all. I remember Jason Kendall was getting traded for years, and how long did it take to happen? For me, I'm focused on going back to Pittsburgh and pitching for Jim Tracy. That's what I'm looking forward to."

The Pirates' Winter Caravan, the annual promotional tour that covers Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland, will open Jan. 14 at Seven Springs, where Bill Mazeroski will sign autographs. This edition will span three weeks with 25 stops. A schedule is available at pirates.mlb.com.

Baseball offices across the country tend to go dark between Christmas and New Year's Day, so expect little player movement of any kind in the coming week.

Fifty-three days until pitchers and catchers report.