The coming week

This week is traditionally starts out exciting for fans of teams like the Pirates, then ends disappointingly when you realize that all we ended up with for a potential top flight starter is a fat third baseman that can only hit lefties, a middling pitching prospect (who was nowhere near as good as the prospect someone else got from the same team for a lesser starter), and a semi-promising infielder/outfielder that you had to start with, only to piss away in the Rule 5. And yet, we're still excited the next year come deadline time, even though it's pretty obvious our GM is again trying to play our cards face up against the rest of the league who's not sharing anything with anyone. So what do we watch for in the coming week? Twenty-five guys left Pittsburgh for Florida today. Twenty-five guys will be coming back next Monday from Atlanta. The only question is how many of them will be the same? So here's some things I'll be watching for.

The Mark Redman watch. He's a much more attractive option to the trade market than Kip Wells being left handed and not as wildly inconsistent as Kip. He's also definitely not coming back for us next year and he has a bit of a history pitching well for a winning team (Florida two years ago). It's hard to separate truth from rumor at this point in the year, but there's almost no chance Mark is coming back to Pittsburgh with us next Monday. If AJ Burnett is dealt before we leave Florida on Thursday, there's a chance Redman stays there for the weekend and beyond to fill his spot in their rotation.

The Matt Lawton conundrum. I agree with Rory, Lawton MUST be dealt by the deadline. His bat doesn't make up for his deficincies in the field and on the bases. He's old and he's expensive. That being said, I can't figure why anyone would want him, besides maybe as a left handed pinch hitter. We probably won't get much for him, but we should take it, whatever it is. The question after that is, who plays right until Craig Wilson gets back? The argument pretty much dictates Doumit, but Tike Redman was out there on Sunday. Tike in right field is only acceptable under one circumstance. And that is...

The plethora of catchers. There's rumblings out of Philly that they're interested in Humberto Cota to replace Mike Lieberthal. I like Cota a lot, but if we get a decent offer for him I think we should take it. Doumit has shown himself to be more than capable behind the plate and his bat will come around with time. Ronnie Paulino is batting .370 in AAA. Neil Walker was our first round pick just a year ago. Catcher is one of the few strong positions in this organization, so if we get a decent offer for Cota I think we should take it.

The Kip Wells situation. Kip is baffling. He's got great stuff, but for some reason the strike zone is eluding him this year. He's been flat-out putrid since June. There's rumors that Anaheim and maybe the Phillies are interested (though I'd guess (hope?) we'd turn down the Cota and Wells for Ryan Howard deal now that Eldred progressed the way he has), as well as Baltimore if they lose out on the AJ Burnett sweepstakes. We have all the cards on the Kip trade. He's been so bad this year he won't make an obscene number in arbitration, so we can afford to bring him back. That means unless the offer is good (not decent, not OK, not so-so) we should hold on to Kip. If it's something great then by all means we should trade him. If the offer is the aformentioned fat guy, middling pitching prospect, and a decent infielder/outfielder, TURN IT DOWN. We might as well see if we can fix whatever's wrong with Kip by next year.

The D-Train. If we can find a taker for Daryle Ward, send him packing. If not, it's not a big deal. Actually, it's only OK while Craig Wilson is out and we don't have a backup for Eldred in the bigs. After that, we really have no use for Ward, no matter how improved he is or how hard he's worked.

The Conspiracy Theory. So Bobby Hill is buried on the bench, making 3 starts in 10 weeks. Despite that, he does everything that could possibly be asked of him, reaching base 4 times in two of those starts and hitting .290 as a pinch hitter. Still, it seems that Lloyd asked for Eldred to be brought up and Hill to be sent down. So is there something we're missing between Lloyd and Bobby? If so, look for Hill to be thrown in to another trade to get him out of town and keep his mouth shut. If not, well, don't look for much from Bobby Hill ever again.

The Dynamic Duo. This doesn't have anything to do with the trade deadline, but just keep enjoying Jack Wilson and Jose Castillo. Some nights (see: Friday) it's worth it to tune in just to watch them play. But you didn't need me to tell you that.