PHOENIX -- Pedro Alvarez will not play winter ball at the start of the season.
Whether he plays there at all this offseason is to be determined.
Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said Tuesday the team felt it best to give Alvarez some time off to clear his head after a disappointing season.
"We've talked about it from a number of different angles and we've ultimately decided it's better for Pedro not to start the season in winter ball," Huntington said. "As we talked about it internally, we felt like it's best to just let him press the reset button. Let him get home. Let him get working on his strength and conditioning offseason program."
Huntington said that Alvarez, born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, likely would be welcomed to his native team at any point, if he so chooses.
"But, if he doesn't, we fully expect that he's going to come into spring training ready to go mentally, physically, fundamentally to have a good season next year," Huntington said.
Alvarez described the decision as a "collective" one.
"We all made a decision that right now the best thing will be to get some rest and start working out to get ready for next year," he said. "As of right now, for the beginning part of the winter, I think I need to get my feet under myself and start getting ready for next year to come back in good baseball shape. If the situation presents itself where winter ball might be something later on in the winter, then we'll tackle it from there."
Alvarez said his ability to play later in the season is a "unique opportunity," but said he has not reached a decision.
"It's open," he said. "It's not definitive."
Gerrit Cole, the No. 1 overall draft pick whom the Pirates signed Aug. 15, will play in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox. Cole currently is in Bradenton, Fla., at Pirate City and will play in the Instructional League for two weeks before heading to Mesa.
Catcher Chris Snyder said he would prefer to return to the Pirates next season under the terms of his contract, which has a $6.75 million team option. But he is not sure that is a possibility.
"The ball is in their court," Snyder said. "Did I do anything production-wise to earn that option? I don't really think I did. But it's there, and that was negotiated. This organization didn't negotiate that contract with me. It was negotiated when I was with Arizona. But, again, the ball is in their court."
Snyder has an offseason home in Phoenix and visited the team Tuesday at Chase Field. He is on the 60-day disabled list after having back surgery in June.
He said he would like to come back to the Pirates next season.
"It's a great town. It's a great city to play in," he said. "Obviously, we started out great this year, didn't work out for us. The nucleus is going to be back. It's still a team that I believe is going to be on the upswing right now. It's a definite possibility."
Snyder said he did not get a chance to prove himself to the Pirates' front office nor the fans. He was unhappy with his production after the Pirates acquired him in a trade last season.
He said he felt good this year before a back injury sidelined him for the season.
"This is probably, by far, one of the most frustrating seasons I've been in," he said.
Before he left Pittsburgh a couple weeks ago, he hit off a tee and started throwing, just to see if he was able to do it.
Once in Phoenix, he said trainers wanted him to slow his rehab -- just so they could evaluate him better.
"I'll continue to strengthen and build everything up," he said, "and I'll probably start hitting and throwing after Thanksgiving, like I normally would."
First Published: September 21, 2011, 4:00 a.m.
