The Q&A

Dejan's Q&A opens up this week with talk of third base. For the first time, Dejan talks reason to the masses that want us to sign a big name third baseman by asking just who it is that we should sign? Bill Mueller? Would he be better than Freddy Sanchez? Joe Randa? Would he be better than Mackowiak? The answer is, of course, no. I'm not sure the situation at third is as dire as everyone makes it out to be, either. If we get more production from Eldred, Doumit, Duffy, and Craig Wilson next year than we did out of Ward, Cota, our center fielders, and our right fielders this year, then having Eric Chavez at third won't be necessary. In fact, having a guy like Freddy Sanchez to anchor the top of the lineup might not be a bad thing. Anyways, Dejan did acknowledge today that the only way we're getting a third baseman with power is if Wigginton, Sanchez, or Mackwiak takes some Abraham Nunez juice and has a year way over their heads next year, Bautista is ready earlier than we expect, or we trade for one.

The middle is the usual hodge-podge of questions, from whether Van Benschoten should go back to the outfield to a percieved slight of Zach Duke by other teams. What intrigues me today is the closing statement. He basically comes right out and says that the only way we don't have a winning season next year is if the management screws things up. That would be a bold statement for someone like me to make, let alone Dejan. That being said, I'm happy he made it. In the last month or so, we've seen nothing but encouraging things from our players. Eldred is mashing the ball in a way we only dreamed he would when we called him up. Doumit is hitting the ball well and, with a few exceptions, playing better than we hoped behind the plate. Zach Duke has been speaking for himself. Duffy continues to give us hope that he's more than a quicker Tike with a better glove. Jack Wilson's bat has made a recent resurgence. In AAA Bullington is pitching well, Perez is on rehab, and we've been waiting all year to see Snell get a real chance. Castillo doesn't need surgery and should be ready by spring training. And you can call it a load of crap if you want, but there's a different spirit in Pittsburgh with all these young guys up. They may not be winning a whole lot more, but in the past 10 days they've layed 5+ run thrashings on the Astros, Phillies, Mets, and Cardinals. The first three are Wild Card contenders, the last team is the prohibitive favorite in the NL this year. They're 10-11 in August. Things are certainly looking up for now.