Pirate Pre-Game Potpourri

-- OK, the Indy hop is done for the time being. Ryan Doumit, Luis Cruz, and Donnie Veal came up; Robby Diaz, Steve Pearce, and Steve Jackson went down. Diaz will get work at the corner infield and second while he's there. Like Delwyn Young, they like the bat, and are trying to find a big-league spot, even if it's on the PNC pine, for him.

-- Sid Hartman of the Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune writes:

There have been rumors that the Twins have been talking to Pittsburgh about a trade for former National League batting champion Freddy Sanchez, who is hitting .316; and/or relief pitchers Matt Capps (1-4 with a 4.71 ERA) or John Grabow (3-0, 3.49 ERA).

If the Twins are going to make a run at the division title, they need to make some deals the way other teams have with Pittsburgh to give themselves a chance to compete

.John Perrotto of the Pirates Report has this report on the rumors:

Colorado has emerged as the front runner for Sanchez and the Pirates have strong interest in Rockies second base prospect Eric Young, Jr., a 24-year-old who is hitting .289 at Class AAA Colorado Springs.

The Rockies are said to be willing to part with relief prospect Casey Weathers, their first-round draft pick in 2007, who will miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his elbow in March.

Another name that has reportedly has been brought up in trade talks is Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez. The 23-year-old left-handed hitter began the season with AAA Colorado Springs and had a .339 batting average with 10 homers, 59 RBIs and six steals in 48 games. He's on the Rox roster now.

San Francisco continues to have interest in Sanchez along with Minnesota. Other contenders who have need for second base help include Atlanta, the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee.

-- Hey, Jason Stark of ESPN notes that the Nats have taken an onus of the Bucco backs:

While we're on the subject of landmark Nationals feats, they've already done something this year that no team had done since Pop Corkhill's 1891 Pirates:

They were the victims of a 250th win (by Jamie Moyer) and a 300th win (by Randy Johnson) in the same year. In fact, they even did it in the same week. So take that, Pop.

-- Matt Fortuna of the Altoona Mirror features 2B prospect Jim Negrych and the growing pains he and the Curve are experiencing this year.

-- The Bucs inked Robert "Tagg" Bozied to a minor league deal. Bozied, an infielder, has spent most of the past eight seasons roaming the bushes, hitting over 20 HRs three times. He played with Xavier Nady for Team USA in 1999. Taggs started this season playing for the Brother Elephants of the Taiwanese League.

-- The Pirates signed six Latino players today - no, not Sano - and DK of the Post Gazette has capsule reports on them from Rene Gayo.

-- Kip Wells is like the energizer bunny; you can't get rid of him. The Reds signed Wells to a minor-league contract and assigned the 32-year-old RHP to AAA Louisville. He was DFA'ed by Washington on June 24 after he went 0-2 with a 6.48 ERA in 23 bullpen appearances.

Slow Off Day

-- John Perrotto, writing for the Insider on Pittsburgh Sports reports that both the Marlins and Twins are kicking Matt Capps' tires, but the Bucs want a boatload back since they're not actively pushing him.

John Paul Morosi of Fox Sports confirms the Capps' talks, writing:

"In need of bullpen help, the Marlins have maintained contact with the Pirates about closer Matt Capps, sources said.

But the sides aren't close to a deal, in large part because Pittsburgh seems to have little interest in outfielder Jeremy Hermida, one of Florida's primary trade chips. The Marlins have already included Hermida in an offer for Capps, sources said, but the Pirates declined.

Pittsburgh is still sorting through suitors for Capps, although one source said the Pirates don't appear entirely certain that they will move him before the July 31 trade deadline."

-- Perrotto added that the Rox like Freddy Sanchez, and the Bucs like Eric Young Jr., so there may be some smoke to that recent fire.

DK of the Post Gazette agrees that Steady Freddy is on the market, writing today that:

"The Pirates are 'pushing hard' to trade All-Star second baseman Freddy Sanchez, according to a National League executive this morning.

The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies are two of the teams with which the Pirates have spoken, the source said, but there are as many as four or five more."

The suits do believe in selling high, and the 31 year-old Sanchez fills the bill on that count.

-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com has a fairly telling piece on the blow-up of the Bucs:

Of the 25 players currently on the team, 14 were not in the Pirates' organization at this time last year. Four others were in the system, but playing in Triple-A. That leaves only seven -- Matt Capps, Zach Duke, John Grabow, Paul Maholm, Adam LaRoche, Freddy Sanchez, Jack Wilson -- in the same place this year as they were a year ago.

There are more rookies (eight) on the team than that.

Neal Huntington told Langosch "We needed the change of culture, and we needed a change of identity. My focus is creating the focus of a winning team. With that comes uncertainty. With that comes change."

"You look at the won-loss record, and it's hard to say we have decimated the franchise," Huntington said. "I think where we are in the standings shows that it's not as bad as it feels. We haven't taken this team as far down as people think."

Well, at least he confirmed what we already knew; he is bound and determined to get rid of Littlefield's players. Let's hope he can bring in better ones in their stead.

-- The Pirates called back LHP Donnie Veal, and sent Steve Pearce and Steve Jackson back to Indy yesterday. Guess Ryan Doumit will make it back before the All-Star game, after all, unless they have a three-day cup of coffee in mind for someone like Luis Cruz. (EDIT: DK says its not Doumit; Langosch says it's Cruz)

Or they could surprise us and send Robby Diaz or Jeff Salazar (the only CF reserve) down when Doumit returns and keep a much-needed back-up middle infielder. It could be Bix, too, though he may have run out of chances. But they have been playing both he and Cruz in the OF, so one of the pair could fill the CF/SS bench role.

-- Lastings Milledge is done with his GCL rehab; he's on the way to Indy. Next stop...

-- Rudy Owens, the lefty having a remarkable season so far for the Class A West Virginia Power, is today's feature on Baseball America's Daily Dish by Jim Shonerd.

Buc Bats Return to Normal

Hey, GW got home from the shop, hit MLB.com, and thought that Ian Snell got a call back up. The pitching line he saw was four innings, five runs, and ten hits. Four of the five runs came after two were out.

But no, Snell's still baffling AAA batters at Indy. It was Charlie Morton's turn to take his spot, but geez, he didn't have to have such an eerie resemblance, ya know?

Ah, well, we've got all summer to find out if that was just a blip or not. One thing that's not a blip is the Pirate attack. They wrung out just five hits while going down quietly to Wandy Rodriguez and the Astros 5-0.

The Bucs are off tomorrow, and then cruise into the All-Star break against the Phils. Here's the probable starters from MLB.com.

-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com thinks the Bucs may not get blown up at the trade deadline as completely as some have thought (or hoped.) She writes:

"The interest in (Adam) LaRoche -- especially considering the type of package the Pirates will seek in return -- has not picked up yet, and we sit only three weeks away from the Trade Deadline. I'm not sure if the opportunity to move him at the Deadline will be there even if the Bucs were interested in sending him out.

Similar to the situation with LaRoche, though, there don't seem to be teams waiting in line for (Jack) Wilson right now, so I'd suspect he'll remain."

-- Ryan Doumit served as Indy's DH yesterday. He went 0-for-5, and is now 0-for-17 in his five rehab games. Hopefully, he's saving it up for his return to PNC after the All-Star break.

-- The story on the Bradenton pitchers: If all goes well, LHP Phil Dumatrait will begin his minor league rehab stint after All-Star week. RHP Tyler Yates is throwing without pain, and RHP Craig Hansen isn't throwing; his neck pain is still a mystery.

-- The GCL Bucs got a look at the big boys yesterday: 3B Neil Walker and LF Lastings Milledge are both playing for Bradenton while on rehab. Walker had a sprained knee and Milledge just recovered from a broken finger.

-- GW isn't the only thing that's green around here; so are the Bucs. For every home run hit by a Pittsburgh player at PNC Park this season, the Pirates and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will plant a tree in a local park. Of course, it better be a small park; they've only hit 27 at home so far.

Thank You Ma'am

Hey, for once it wasn't the Buccos that threw a game away. They got a solid effort from Paul Maholm, who yielded a pair of runs in six innings; a two-run, two-out homer from Jack Wilson, who dropped one over the short porch in left; and then watched the Astros commit 'Stro-icide in a four-run seventh.

After Houston tied the game with a manufactured run in the sixth, the Astros fell apart. With one out, the Pirates took twelve straight balls to juice the sacks. Jason Jaramillo swung at the first pitch he saw, and spanked a one-hopper to the Big Puma, who went home in hopes of starting a 3-2-3 DP.

But his throw came up short and hopped off of Pudge's chest protector. One run in, and three singles later, it was 6-2 Buccos. Joel Hanrahan and John Grabow did a rain dance through the next two innings, but escaped with a 6-3 lead for Matt Capps, who used a dandy slider to get Houston 1-2-3 and notch his nineteenth save.

Jack Splat had 3 RBI tonight, and Garrett Jones kept pounding with a pair of knocks and two stolen sacks. Cutch added two hits.

-- Jen Langosch of MLB.com reports that everything isn't roses for Gorzo yet:

"General manager Neal Huntington said on Tuesday that not only does Virgil Vasquez have a hold on the team's fifth-spot in the rotation indefinitely, but that Gorzelanny is still a ways from being at the point where management feels comfortable enough to bring him back up to the Majors.

'Tom can't cruise and get the Nos. 2 or 3 hitters out with his best stuff and best focus and then get the Nos. 7 and 8 hitters out with a fastball down the middle that the guy just misses.'" Huntington said.

We'll see if the message is received.

-- Donnie Veal will rejoin the team Friday, so someone has to go. Evan Meek, Jesse Chavez, Joel Hanrahan, Steven Jackson and Jeff Karstens all have options remaining (not that Matt Capps or John Grabow were on the endangered list), so take your pick for Indy's new closer this weekend.

For our two cents worth, it should be Hanrahan. Otherwise, the suits will be sticking JR with two guys he can't depend on to throw a strike in the clutch.

-- The Pirates lead the majors with 25 outfield assists and 97 double plays. Hey, if they only hit as well as they played the field...

-- Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports adds the latest name to the Pirates wish list:

"One player the Pirates would love to get as a possible replacement for second baseman Freddie Sanchez: Eric Young Jr., who has a .386 on-base percentage at Class AAA with the Rockies. But Young, 24, also looms as a potential replacement for the Rockies' current second baseman, Clint Barmes, who has two more years of arbitration."

He warns that Young would cost the Pirates dearly to pry from Colorado.

Hampton's Houston Hex

Hey, all ya gotta do is point Mike Hampton to the mound, and the ballgame's over for Pittsburgh. He beat the Bucs for the tenth straight time, 4-1. The last streak against the Pirates of that proportion belonged to the Phil's Robin Roberts, who won 15 in a row between 1951-53.

The difference is that Roberts was dominating the NL during the fifties; Hampton is 5-5 with a 4.16 ERA. He has one win against a team other than Pittsburgh.

Two plays in the first inning probably decided the game. With the first two runners on, Andy LaRoche hit a screamer up the middle. Hampton snagged it, although it almost knocked him over, and got a DP. With two outs and two on in the bottom half, Garrett Jones crashed into the wall to make a tough catch - and had the ball pop out of his glove on impact. 2-0 'Stros, game, set, match.

-- Byron Kerr of MASN.com says GM Rizzo should get the interim tag removed from his title after the NyMo/Burney deal:

"The acquisition of outfielder Nyjer Morgan and relief pitcher Sean Burnett was a perfect Rizzo deal. Morgan has already paid huge dividends with his energy, defense and scrappy attitude to get on base. Morgan makes catches in center the center fielder is supposed to make. He makes catches you think he shouldn't be able to make. Even when he drops a ball that he dove for, he gets up quickly and fires to 2nd to gun down the runner anyway. Burnett had that hiccup versus the Marlins in his debut, but still has some good numbers in his last 6 appearances, allowing just 1 earned run."

-- 27 year-old SS Jhonny Peralta is supposed to be on the meat market. Let's see...he has a little pop with the bat, is a Cleveland Indian product, and the Bucs may be looking for a shortstop soon. Just wonderin'...

-- Eric Hinske will make his first start for the Bronx Bombers tonight in RF, according to Brian Hoch of MLB.com. Seems like nothin' but lefties have taken the hill since the Bucs dealt him; the Yankees plan to use him in a platoon role.

-- Ian Browne of MLB.com on 42-year-old Tim Wakefield's first All-Star selection:

"Wakefield became the oldest player to make the All-Star team for the first time since Satchel Paige. After years of dominance in the Negro Leagues, Paige went to his first major league All-Star game in 1952 at the age of 46. Jamie Moyer (40 in 2003) and Connie Marrero (40 in 1951) are the only other players to become All-Stars for the first time at age 40 or older."

-- Ian Snell threw another shutout for Indy yesterday, giving up six hits and striking out six in a complete game (seven innings) win. Too bad he can't match that kind of performance at PNC.

-- LHP Rudy Owens (10-1, 1.79) keeps mowing 'em down at West Virginia. The 21 year-old threw five goose eggs and allowed two hits, with 3 Ks and a walk.

-- Mike Whiteford of the West Virginia Gazette has the story of first round selection Tony Sanchez's long, strange journey from Boston College to Charleston.

Bucs Flounder in Florida

We're looking forward to after the All-Star break, when the Pirates should be blown up and the future starts to arrive a piece at a time. But geez, until then...

Pittsburgh made Ricky Nolasco look like he was channeling Bob Gibson. He held the Bucs to three hits and struck out a dozen in eight innings to lead the Fish to a brutal 5-0 spanking of the Pirates. And hey, those eight goose eggs lowered his ERA to...5.42.

Not to knock Nolasco; his little slider and curve kept the Bucs off balance all day, and a generous strike zone called by plate ump Bob Davidson helped all the pitchers. And Since returning from AAA, Nolasco is 4-1 with a 1.54 ERA and 45 Ks in 41 innings. But if we had a buck for every pitch out of the zone, even Davidson's, that the Pirates swung at, heck, GW could probably buy Adam LaRoche's contract.

The Big O had a rough day. He hurt himself by catching too much of the plate, and his team mates didn't help. Andrew McCutchen and Ramon Vasquez miscommunicated a pop-up into an RBI, and Adam LaRoche (who struck out seven times in the series) made an ill-advised throw home instead of taking the sure out, eventually costing the Pirates another run.

But why quibble? When you get three hits, Billy Mazeroski's glove couldn't save you. And that's why we can't wait to see the new Pirates, the sooner the better.

Meanwhile, the old Bucs are visiting Houston. The probable pitchers are linked, from MLB.com.

-- Steady Freddy was named as the Bucco's only 2009 All-Star rep, as expected. Now he only needs 600 plate appearances to vest his 2010 contract, and he has 329 at the half-way point.

Only twice in the past decade have the Pirates had multiple players on the National League All-Star squad. That was in 2006 with Jason Bay & Freddy Sanchez at PNC, and in 2000, when they were represented by Jason Kendall & Brian Giles.

For Sanchez, it's his third appearance. And he's been selected at three different positions - shortstop in 2006, third base in 2007, and second base in 2009.

-- DK in the Post Gazette on current trade rumors: "The Pirates and San Francisco have had trade talks regarding Freddy Sanchez and, to a lesser extent, Adam LaRoche. The Giants have had a scout following Sanchez, and their interest in LaRoche goes back several months. Their preference though, is for a right-handed bat.

Other players the Pirates are known to have discussed moving are Jack Wilson, John Grabow and, only in an exploratory sense, Matt Capps. The latter apparently would be moved only at a high price."

-- Sanchez confirmed that he has been bothered by spasms and tightness in his back since stepping out of a cab at Land Shark Stadium on Friday, and nothing worse. Monday probably would be his earliest return date.

Bucs Bumble Against Fins

Happy Fourth, Pittsburgh. But you'll have to sit on the porch and look up if you want to see fireworks; the Bucs sure didn't provide any in losing 5-3 to the Fish.

You know the drill by now. The pitcher can't get his throw on target to first base. The next batter homers. Walk the eight guy to load the bases with two outs to get to the pitcher, and then serve up an 0-2 wild pitch. Claw back to within a run and watch the bullpen give it back - on a comebacker with a runner at third that the pitcher didn't look back. Nothing new here, folks.

The Pirates did hit a couple of long balls, from the bats of Andy LaRoche and Garrett Jones. Both were solo shots.

Ah well, rebuilding year, right? The Bucs finished the first half of the season at 37-44, which is probably better than we expected in March. The disappointing part is that their Pythagorean "should be" record is 41-40, based on runs scored/runs yielded. Those four more wins would sure have looked nice; they'd only be two game back.

-- George King III of the New York Post reported that "Pittsburgh had two scouts at last night's Yankee game. Their presence fueled speculation the Yankees have an interest in 30-year-old lefty reliever John Grabow. With Damaso Marte's return from shoulder problems looking less likely by the day, the Yankees could use a second lefty to complement Phil Coke."

-- OF Jonel Pacheco (.259 9/37) and C Milver Reyes (.227 0/2 - only 22 at-bats) have been promoted from Altoona to Indy. Infielder Ray Chang (.303 0/28) was promoted from Lynchburg to Altoona.

-- Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel made their pro debuts. Pitching for the GCL Pirates, Singh allowed two hits and one run in one inning. The left-hander struck out one. Righty Patel needed just eight pitches to get through his inning of relief. He struck out one and didn't allow a baserunner. Not million dollar arms, but not bad.

Morton Marinates Marlins

Charlie Morton showed why the Pirates lusted for him today. He went six innings, giving up just one hit, and the Bucs backed him with a seven spot to take the first game from the Fish tonight 7-4.

Morton came back from a 45 minute third-inning rain delay, and in the fourth, it looked like the cool-down period wasn't going to bother him a bit, as he punched out the last two batters. It caught up to him in the fifth and sixth frames, when his stuff got him into trouble and then got him right back out of it.

He let the first two hitters get aboard both innings on three walks and a single, and went 3-0 on the next batter both frames. But Morton, cool as the July weather in Pittsburgh, got them both times and wriggled out the self-inflicted jams.

Joel Hanrahan and Jeff Karstens each gave up a pair of runs, sandwiched around a scoreless inning by John Grabow, but the game was never competitive; it was 7-0 in the seventh.

Brandon Moss and Ramon Vasquez got the Bucs off and flying with homers in the first two frames, and Jack Wilson doubled home a pair in the seventh inning to ice the game. The Pirates were abnormally efficient on offense, scoring seven times on eight hits.

Good starting pitching and timely hitting on the same night; now that's something you don't see too often from Pittsburgh. And it was a welcome sight.

-- Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports reports: The Pirates, who are apparently not done dealing yet, have engaged in trade discussions with the Twins regarding a number of players, major league sources said Thursday. At present, Minnesota is most interested in second baseman Freddy Sanchez and relievers Matt Capps and John Grabow, the sources said.

But DK in the PBC Blog says that "The Pirates and Twins are not discussing Freddy Sanchez. There is, in fact, nothing active on the Sanchez front." We note that he doesn't squelch the Capps or Grabow rumors, though.

Sanchez, by the way, was off tonight and is listed as day-to-day with back tightness.

-- OK, the Ryan Doumit watch can begin for real now. He caught 5 innings in the GCL today, and is going to Indy Sunday. His hoped-for ETA is to return after the All-Star break.

-- Baseball America has picked West Virginia Power LHP Rudy Owens, to its All-Surprise Minor League Team. He's 9-1, with a 1.90 ERA. They note: "A member of the final class of draft-and-follows, Owens has demonstrated both control and an ability to miss bats, and he leads the South Atlantic League in both ERA and wins."

If It's Not This, It's That...

Well, the Bucs are at it again. They go through these maddening streaks where they play just well enough to lose. When they pitch, they don't hit. When they hit, they don't pitch. And so the wheel turns, as it has for the past 16 seasons.

Paul Maholm was given a five run lead; he didn't last five innings. He faced 25 hitters, and twelve reached base. Jeff Karstens, who had been pitching so well out of the pen, gave up a two-run homer. That quickly, a 5-0 lead dissolved into an 8-5 deficit.

In spite of all that, the Pirates staged a ninth inning rally, tying the game 8-8 on Adam LaRoche's long ball. They had runners on first and third with two away, and Brandon Moss smoked one, but right into the mitt of Luis Castillo.

Matt Capps came on in the tenth, and routinely retired the first two hitters on a whiff and pop-up. Then he plunked Fernando Tatis on a 2-2 pitch, and Tatis, ignored at first, stole second. Ryan Church lined a one-hopper into center. Andrew McCutchen's throw was on line and in time to get the runner, but sailed high over Robby Diaz's head, and the Metropolitans were back on top to stay, 9-8.

Tatis and Church got up ten times and banged out six hits, scored six runs, and drove in four. The Mets collected 15 hits and were 7-of-19 with runners in scoring position.

The Pirates were out of comebacks. Francisco Rodriguez was up 0-2 on Cutch, 1-2 on Jack Wilson, and 0-2 on Freddy Sanchez, and got a weak fly, strikeout, and bouncer to earn the win. The Pirates had twelve knocks and were 2-of-13 with runners in scoring position.

No use cryin'; Pirate baseball is awash in decades of spilled milk. The suits have hoisted the white flag for 2009; expect to see a lot of new kids in Pirate unis, and soon, before the market gets too crowded.

But as frustrating as it is, the suits are sticking to their plan. They're building for the future and evaluating what's currently on hand. Hey, in the old Dave Littlefield days, a sniff at being in a race would have netted us Gary Sheffield for Nate McLouth - and Pittsburgh probably would have thrown in a pitcher.

For all the head-banging, Neal Huntington is doing what he said he would. Now let's hope that his player evaluation team is as good as his ability to blow up a club.

The Bucs are off to Florida to visit the Marlins at Land Shark Stadium. Here's the scheduled starting pitchers, from MLB.com.

The Pirates are on the road until after the All-Star game, taking on Florida, Houston, and the Phillies.

-- Garrett Jones fell a single short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 and driving in two while scoring three times. Jones' first hit, a double, came in the Pirates' three-run second. He then tripled home a run in the third, and smacked a solo homer in the seventh.

Apparently Jones is going to get a better look than the Bucs are giving Steve Pearce. JR told John Perrotto of the Pirate Report that: "He (Jones) has the ability to play every day. Whether he does or not remains to be seen because we have a couple of guys in the outfield who are hot in Brandon Moss and Delwyn Young. Garrett is going to get a chance to play, though."

Hey, someone has to bat clean-up when Adam LaRoche leaves, right?

-- La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune's Twin's Insider reports that: The Twins have released RH reliever Luis Ayala. There was legitimate interest in him from Pittsburgh, and word was that Eric Hinske’s name came up in the discussions. But once Hinske was dealt to the Yankees, trade talks with the Pirates died. Ayala signed with the Marlins.

-- Hey, Jay Bay is gonna have to cough up US-style taxes now. He was among 360 people officially sworn in today as a United States citizen in a ceremony at Faneuil Hall, called Boston's "Cradle of Liberty," as the Red Sox were off.

-- Indianapolis will be represented by RHP Chris Bootcheck (1-2-14 2.91 48K/34IP) and C Eric Kratz (.280 3/20) in the AAA All-Star game.

-- The Bucs did offer a deal to 16 year-old Dominican SS Miguel Angel Sano, as expected, with no figures released. MLB is investigating his age, and he can't ink a contract until baseball declares him kosher.

The Twins and Orioles are still in the hunt, and Baltimore has more long green budgeted for Latin America than either Pittsburgh and Minnesota if a bidding war breaks out.

The Pitching Is Willing, But The Bats Are Weak...

Pirates play Cubs. Pirates lose to Cubs. Ho hum.

Chicago took the series from Pittsburgh with a 4-1 victory in a pretty lifeless game, except for a Sweet Lou Pinella meltdown and ejection. The two telling differences between the clubs tonight were that the Cubs homered twice, accounting for three runs, and Randy Wells filled up the plate with strikes.

The Pirates had a chance to tie in the fifth, but Jack Wilson was gunned down at the plate with two outs on a one-hop strike from LF Sam Fuld, maintaining a 2-1 Cubbie lead. Then Kosuke Fukudome hit a two-out, full-count homer in the sixth to make it 3-1, and that was the ball game.

Virgil Vasquez danced between the raindrops for much of the game, nibbling instead getting that first-pitch strike as he did last outing, but came up with pitches when he needed them. He just couldn't overcome a two-run first inning homer to Derrek Lee and Fukudome's shot, not with Pittsburgh bats still in the deep freeze.

The Bucs managed just six hits, and scored five runs total in the three game set against the Windy City. Pirate pitching was solid, yielding only seven tallies, but unless the sticks regain a little thunder, the Bucs are just wasting the staffs' effort.

-- In a vote of confidence, Garrett Jones started in left tonight against RHP Randy Wells; Brandon Moss was stationed in right. GW thought it would be the other way around. Jones hit .307 with 18 doubles, 12 homers, 14 stolen bases and 48 RBI at Indy. We guess the 6-4, 245 pound banger has some wheels, too; he stole 14 bases at Indy.

-- Craig Monroe cleared waivers today, and Jeff Salazar was added to the roster.

-- A quick read around the blogosphere affirms that the world outside of Pittsburgh thinks the Bucs pulled one over on the Nats. We'll see; if Lastings Milledge becomes anything near what he was once hyped to be, it will be a steal. If not...

And hey, even Jack Splat took the shoe out of his mouth and apologized for his post-trade rant to the assembled local media.

-- Three players from Altoona will play in the Eastern League All-Star Game: LHP Daniel Moskos (4-6 3.98), SS Brian Friday (.259 5/17), and OF/1B Jason Delaney (.286 4/35). Jim Negrych (.259 1/22), Jose Tabata (.252 1/13), and Pedro Alvarez (he's only been there a week), the cream of the AA prospects, didn't.

-- The Bucs signed another trio of draft picks: third-rounder CF Evan Chambers (Hillsborough CC, Fla.); SS John Gourley (13th round - Eastern Wayne HS, NC); and RHP Ryan Beckham (18th round - Grayson County College, Tex.). Chambers, 20, will begin at State College; the other two haven't been assigned yet.

-- The Pirates quietly signed three teen Taiwanese players in the past week - RHP Sheng-Chin Hung, who throws in the high 80s to low 90s; 1B/LHP Chi-Wei Hsu, who was converted to a pitcher two years ago, and throws in the low 80's, with a slider and a changeup, plus some pop with his bat (he's 5-11, 215); and CF Ping-Hung Chi, a leadoff guy who's been timed at 3.9 from home plate to first base.

Chi and Hung, both 18, were teammates at Shi-Yuan HS. Hsu is 17 and played at Kuang-Fu HS. All three signed for bonuses in the range of $50,000, and were sent to MLB's new training academy in Australia.