Two Links

The Bucs Dugout continues along with the current Rob Rossi and Florida Marlins memes, wondering what exactly drives Rossi to write some of the things he does and why no comparisons to the Marlins are really all that valid at this point. All I'm going to say is that I've never seen Ed Eagle and Rob Rossi in the same room, and I'll leave it at that.

Friday is Dejan's Q&A Day, so check it out. There is some particularly interesting stuff on how the infield situation will be handled next year.

Jose Castillo is the most obvious choice as odd man out, and he undoubtedly has frustrated management no end. Just seeing again his raging inconsistency on this road trip provides a reminder. To be sure, there are those in the organization who would welcome moving him, taking Freddy Sanchez to second base and using Bautista at third. (Or someone else at third and Bautista in right field, but that is another conversation for another day.)

At the same time, there are those who think it would border on insanity to move Castillo, given his potential and the chance he could blossom elsewhere.

Be sure that no decision has been made in this regard and that a tug-of-war is likely at the organizational meetings that follow the season.

This is probably a topic for a later day, but my suggestion would be this: before they do anything with Jose Castillo, they should try as hard as possible to trade Jack Wilson for something of value. Freddy can obviously play short as a regular and Jack is the weakest bat out of Castillo, Bautista, and Freddy. Freddy may not match his output from this year again, but he's certainly more capable of having a year like Jack had in 2004 than Jack is ever again. If they can't move Jack for anything valuable (which I will grant, is likely) and they get an offer they can't refuse for Castillo, then maybe they should start to think about it. It seems like common sense, but we all know how well the Pirates and common sense get along.