And then there were three.

Neal Huntington has stated several times that it never has entered his thinking to purge the Pirates' roster of players acquired by his predecessor, Dave Littlefield. Still, it has to be seen as striking that the players being discussed in trade talks during the Winter Meetings this past week were the final four remaining regulars from Littlefield's major league rosters: Matt Capps, Ryan Doumit, Zach Duke and Paul Maholm.

And that Capps, as of midnight last night, was stunningly non-tendered and allowed to become a free agent.

Regardless of motivation, and regardless of whether the other three stay or go, 22 names deleted from the 25-man roster already is quite the purge.

The same applies to the broader organization, as seen on the 40-man roster. All that remain from Huntington's predecessors: Andrew McCutchen, Steve Pearce, Brian Bixler, Neil Walker, Brad Lincoln, Ronald Uviedo and Ramon Aguero, plus the aforementioned three.

Has there been anything like it in sports in a two-year span?

The impact:

• Eighteen players, beginning with Salomon Torres, were traded for 32 players, half of whom have played for the Pirates.

• In all those trades, the Pirates sent away 33 years of control of players' rights -- meaning their years before free agency -- to acquire 179 years of control. That is largely because eight of the players sent away were pending free agents. The only glaring exceptions to this pattern came with the most recent trade, in which five years of Jesse Chavez were traded for one year of Akinori Iwamura, and, of course, the release of Capps, in which there was zero return.

• Of the Pirates' top 30 prospects, as rated by the Post-Gazette in September after interviews with management, 22 were acquired by Huntington. The exceptions: Brad Lincoln, Starling Marte, Rudy Owens, Quincy Latimore, Danny Moskos, Shelby Ford, Diego Moreno and Walker. Twelve of the top 14 are Huntington's.

• On the 40-man roster, only five players have more than three years of major league service time.

Manager John Russell joked this week that the "mass exodus" likely is over. But it apparently still has a bit to go.

• One hint as to how the 40-man will take shape this offseason: There currently are 21 position players and 17 pitchers, a ratio heavily -- and unusually -- balanced toward position players. And 12 of those position players, even more unusually, are infielders. Pearce and Bixler would appear closest to the bubble.

• Looks like Rule 5 pick John Raynor will be in a one-on-one battle with Brandon Moss for reserve outfield duty this spring. Locked into the bench for now are Jason Jaramillo, Ramon Vazquez, Bobby Crosby and Delwyn Young. That leaves room for one outfielder, preferably one capable of backing up in center. And Raynor might be better there than Moss.

• One topic that can draw a cringe from management is Walker's future with the Pirates, who are not exactly fretting over Pedro Alvarez and Andy LaRoche blocking him at third base. "Neil's got a long way to go to make it to the majors," Russell said. "He's got to hit better in the minors, he's got to get stronger, and he's got to mature into a better player." Walker batted .264 in the minors this past season, and a late surge earned a September callup.

• Garrett Jones might start out as the Pirates' No. 3 hitter once again, but Russell would like to slide him down to No. 5 or 6 "in an ideal world" once Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata arrive.

• Russell, on why Jones was no fluke: "The power and the bat speed are the biggest things. But I also like the way Garrett adjusted to the league after the league started adjusting to him. There was a while there where he was seeing nothing but fastballs under his fists, but he kept finding a way to hit. That's a good sign."

• Few would defend Littlefield's record of trading, drafting or general roster-building. But Chavez, who he acquired in 2006 as a Class AA prospect in exchange for Kip Wells, already has been traded for Iwamura and now Rafael Soriano this offseason.

• The Pirates will have their second three-day voluntary conditioning camp, beginning tomorrow, in Bradenton, Fla.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.