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An eye-opening one emerged Friday regarding the Pirates and catcher Jason Kendall.

Speculation was that the San Diego Padres tried to revisit a deal for Kendall, offering to give up newly acquired catcher Ramon Hernandez and outfielder Terrence Long.

The deal apparently hit a snag when the Pirates balked at adding Long, who is owed $8.1 million over the next two seasons, and asked for outfield prospect Xavier Nady instead.

Padres general manager Kevin Towers has long been enamored with Kendall and tried several times to trade for him in the past six months. But any deal for Kendall seemed dead in November when the Padres acquired Hernandez, an All-Star coming off a 21-homer season, and Long from the Oakland Athletics.

Still, a source close to the Padres said Towers hadn't totally given up on acquiring Kendall, who batted .325 last season, even if it didn't appear a deal was in the works. Towers didn't arrive at the meetings until last night, which didn't give him a chance to visit with Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield.

Littlefield did meet with representatives from other teams yesterday but, as is his custom, didn't discuss trade specifics.

"We have offers out there and proposals out there," Littlefield said. "Whether they are accepted or not are another thing and you never know when that might happen."

Littlefield confirmed he's had talks involving Kendall, but added that they "haven't picked up any more so than the level of interest we've had from a certain couple of teams before."

Another source close to the talks said he expects Kendall, who can veto any trade, to remain with the Pirates, pointing out that Kendall has taken his Ohio Township home off the market. In October, perhaps thinking he would be returning to his West Coast roots, Kendall put his house up for sale.

The Pirates would like to trade Kendall, who has $42 million remaining on his contract, so they can gain financial relief as they pare the payroll to under $40 million next season.

For any deal involving Kendall to be pulled off, several hurdles would need to be cleared, most notably how much of Kendall's contract the Pirates would absorb.

In previous overtures for Kendall, the Padres tried to get the Pirates to pay $25 million, with the Pirates balking at that price.

"If we make a trade, there's an understanding we'd have to take back some money," Littlefield said. "How much is determined by what we would get back in talent."

The proposed deal involving Hernandez and Long was an upgrade over what the Padres offered the Pirates last summer. In those discussions, the Padres wanted the Pirates to take underachieving catcher Wiki Gonzalez and journeyman starter Kevin Jarvis. The Pirates had no interest in either player.

Hernandez is coming off an All-Star year in which he batted .273 with 21 homers and 78 RBI in 140 games. Long had a turbulent season, batting .245 in 140 games and clashing with manager Ken Macha over playing time. A left-handed hitter, Long also hit 14 homers, had 61 RBI and can play all three outfield spots.

Regardless of Kendall's contract situation, the acquisition would have come at a steep financial price. Hernandez, 27, will make $2.9 million next year and $4.3 million in 2005. Long, also 27, will earn $3.4 million next year and $4.7 million in 2005.

Aside from the Padres, no other serious suitors for Kendall have emerged. The Athletics and Baltimore Orioles have targeted Kendall as a fall-back option if free agents Javy Lopez and Pudge Rodriguez sign elsewhere. The Chicago Cubs inquired about Kendall early in the offseason but no longer are said to be interested in trading for him.

Putting a crimp on teams' plans to trade for Kendall is his blanket no-trade clause. It is believed Kendall won't waive it unless he is traded to the West Coast, where he grew up.

In other developments at the meetings:

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