This 'N That

-- Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette reports the next trading block tidbit; the Nats are hot for Nyjer Morgan.

The teams began discussing this (deal) eight days ago, and a Washington proposal in which the Pirates would get younger outfielder Lastings Milledge crumbled when the Pirates came back seeking Milledge and starter Craig Stammen.

One of the sources said the teams plan to continue to talk, mostly because the Nationals are eager to have Morgan as a leadoff man.

Milledge, 24, is five years younger than Morgan and once was considered an elite prospect. He currently is rehabilitating a broken finger in Class AAA and should be ready to return in early July.

Doesn't anyone have a spare middle infielder or two stashed away somewhere? Enough with the outfielders already!

-- The Bucs did a make-over of Virgil Vasquez's pitching repertoire at Indy, according to Jen Langosch of MLB.com. V Dub had been a fastball-slider pitcher for the Tigers. But the Pirates didn't allow him to throw the slider at Indy, forcing him rely more on his curve and change, which he was hesitant on using in the past. Works so far.

-- July should turn into a very interesting time for the Bucs. They're still hanging around in the Central and wildcard races; will that impact how high they blow up the current roster? And while Tyler Yates, Craig Hansen, and Phil Dumatrait will surely be gone until September, they'll have to make room on the roster for Donnie Veal and Ryan Doumit when they return next month.

Don't spend a lot of time trying to memorize all the faces now on the Pirate bench; they will be plenty of changes coming in the next four or five weeks. McCutch may be the only player that's safe.

-- The Pirates are 7-6 in interleague play so far this season; a split with KC will give them a winning record against the junior circuit for the first time since 2001, when they were again playing against their Central division counterparts. They should do so well against the NL Central.

-- How far does the Pirates' minor league system have to go before they come all the way back? According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Pirates have two of the worse teams in the bushes at Altoona and West Virginia, and one of the better ones at Lynchburg.

Mixed progress, so it seems, in the suits rebuilding program. Even with the player-for-prospect trades, they're a couple of solid draft classes away from stocking the minor league pond.

-- Xavier Nady's elbow rehab didn't do the trick; now it looks like he'll need TJ surgery, according to George King III of the New York Post. That may take him out of action until 2011, and sure isn't the way he planned to enter his free agent year of 2010.