Sunday Stuff

-- Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette, in his "On The Pirates" column, gives a pretty good explanation of the bad juju the Pirates employed in the Nate McLouth trade, the production deficit it leaves in the outfield, and why Charlie Morton is a key to the deal. The tag line says it all: "If the front office keeps moving the finish line, no group of players can contend."

-- Jack Splat is out of the lineup today thanks to his dust-up with Pudge Rodriguez last night. In another small surprise, JR is bringing back Jason Jaramillo instead of Robby Diaz. He usually rotates catchers after a night-day bit of scheduling. Guess that tells us something about who's winning that battle.

-- How smart is Princeton grad Ross Ohlendorf? Smart enough that Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine writes: "He may be the smartest player in baseball and the smartest person in almost any room he enters." That's pretty smart. Then again, when you're a Green Weenie, crossing the street without ending up under a set of wheels is considered a sign of superior intelligence.

-- Speaking of being thrown under a set of wheels, like a bus, we think the flap between Adam LaRoche and Carlos Beltran speaks well of both. Beltran is trying to light a fire under an underachieving Met team, and LaRoche is sticking up for his Pirate locker room. Point, counter-point, and handled like clubhouse leaders.

-- DJ Gallo of ESPN chimes in with what the world outside of Pittsburgh thinks about both the McLouth deal and the Huntington MO.

-- In case you're wondering how important that extra year of control for young players is, consider this: in the past week or so, Tampa's David Price, Baltimore's Matt Wieters, Atlanta's Tommy Hanson, Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen and the White Sox's Gordon Beckham were called up. June's the magic month; you get four months of play without starting the arbitration clock.

-- MLB.com reports that "Missouri ace right-hander Kyle Gibson has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right forearm and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks." Scrub one potential first-round pick for the Pirates. Maybe he'll last a round or two; then the suits can consider doing the Tanner Scheppers tango with him.