"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.""