Random Thoughts As The Deadline Approaches...

A stream-of-consciousness look at the deadline:

• A platoon-type OF/1B that can pound lefties and hopefully sit in the five hole has to be NH's main concern. Another starter may be on the list, but there aren't many available that can crack the Pirate staff. Don't look for a SS deal. Mercer and Barmes are doing well enough, while buyers are lined up around the corner looking at a seller's market that frankly doesn't exist. And we'd be surprised to see them in on a reliever; the bullpen is deep through Indy. The bench could use help. A partial answer may lie at Indy with Tony Sanchez and an outfielder, although the prospects for the pasture are all LH.
• The Pirates are scouting the current Milwaukee-San Diego series. The Padres are said to be dangling bullpen arms; we're wondering if the Bucco bird dogs aren't keying in on OFs Chris Denorfia and Carlos Quentin rather than relievers.
• Looking at early trade results, the price for rentals this year is sky-high in terms of prospects. So while the Bucs may be rumored to be in on some big names (Stanton, Pence, Rios) just as they were last year (Pence, Victorino, Headley), we'd expect nothing more than a Derrek Lee kind of addition or someone NH finds with some upside and under team control who's under the current radar (like last year's Lincoln-Snider deal). The holes just aren't gaping enough to grossly overpay in what is shaping up as an extreme seller's market. The club could go into September and the free call-ups adding nothing more than a RH stick and a doing a little shuffling of the roster's edges.
• The Brewers and Cubs are selling fast, and that's not great news for the Bucs, as the Cards still face them 18 times and the Reds 16 times while the Bucs match up with the pair 13 more times. The Brewers have lost Ryan Braun for the year to suspension and just traded Francisco Rodriguez, with the rest of its bullpen said to be available. The Cubs have unloaded Matt Garza, Scott Feldman and Scott Harrison, and are trying to deal Alfonso Soriano to the Yankees, with most of their roster being dangled. The Bucs won't see the Reds until late September for a six-pack home-and-home series, but have 14 games left with St. Louis, with a big five game set beginning Monday.