Dejan is reporting that Jack Wilson has been traded to Seattle: http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/pbc/archive/2009/07/29/pirates-trade-to.aspx

No word on the return, but Dejan said details will follow. The Mariners have a few decent prospects in their system, including some low-level players, so it will be interesting to see what we get back.

I have to assume that Sanchez is close behind, with San Francisco as the most logical destination.

UPDATE: On Twitter, Dejan is reporting that its Jack Wilson and Ian Snell for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.

The Star-Tribune is reporting that the Pirates are interested in trading for Twins RHP Luis Ayala, who was designated for assignment this week. Ayala, 31, joined Minnesota on a 1-year, $1.3 million deal in the offseason, with the intention of being the eighth-inning setup guy for closer Joe Nathan. In 32.3 innings this year, he had a 4.18 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 21 K and 8 BB, but complained about being used as a middle reliever and reportedly requested a trade.

It makes sense for Huntington to inquire, given the health issues of Yates and Hansen and the sporadic ineffectiveness of some other relievers. Ayala had some very good seasons from 2003-2005 and was decent in 2007 after returning from 2006 Tommy John surgery, but he struggled last year with a 5.74 ERA and 1.46 WHIP with the Nationals and Mets.

Former top prospect LHP Greg Miller was released by the Dodgers today, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him end up in the Pirates organization in the near future. He has all the hallmarks of a Neal Huntington pickup: young (24), big (6-5), good arm, control problems, hindered by injuries, lefty, potential as both starter and reliever, etc. He was once considered the #2 prospect in the Dodgers organization, and I wouldn't mind seeing if Kerrigan and our minor league coaches can tap into his potential.

Jayson Starks' most recent ESPN column had a nice blurb about Tyler Yates:

Penmanship in Atlanta: One cardinal rule we've learned over the years is: When the Braves trade away a pitcher, never question it. But other people out there are already second-guessing their decision to deal away reliever Tyler Yates to Pittsburgh at the end of spring training.

"I think their bullpen is going to have trouble," said one scout. "I love [Rafael] Soriano as a set-up guy. But as a closer, I think he's just middle-of-the-pack. … [Peter] Moylan is tough on right-handers, but I don't think he can get left-handers out. … Guys like [Blaine] Boyer and [Chris] Resop have great arms, but they walk too many people and they're up in the zone a lot. And [Manny] Acosta is the same way. … So for me, you take that whole set-up crew, and Tyler Yates is better than all of them."

Baseball Digest Daily found this gem, which shows a scouting report from Branch Rickey (during his short stint as a PBC executive in 1954) that touts a young Don Drysdale and urges the Pirates to sign him.

Of course, Drysdale signed with the Dodgers. Rickey hand writes, after the fact: "Signed with Brooklyn; Father is a bird dog for them".

I love this line from Rickey: "It is probable that this chap is worth whatever it takes except that Pittsburgh is in no position to make him a bonus player." Maybe Littlefield was following PBC tradition when he bypassed Wieters!

There have been a lot of comments in this forum about whether the Pirates should pursue 3B Dallas McPherson, a 27-year-old former Angels prospect, so I thought I'd pass along news that he signed today with the Florida Marlins.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/401365.html

It's a one-year deal and no terms have been disclosed. I'm anxious to see how this plays out because this is the type of risk that the Pirates need to take -- I've been lobbying for Huntington to sign McPherson for months. There is a lot of potential power there and McPherson is still relatively young. Plus he would come fairly cheap and could provide some competition at 3B for Jose Bautista.

The only excuse I can think of for Huntington is that McPherson may still have medical red flags. Obviously, even if healthy, the odds of McPherson developing are less than 50-50, but the upside is too great to ignore. I hope we don't come to regret this.

Buster Olney just posted this story: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3151599

It says the Bucs and Padres are deep in discussions about trading Jason Bay and -- get this -- Matt Morris to the West Coast. Without knowing the return, I like the concept for the Pirates. Anything that dumps Morris (without paying too much of his salary) would be welcomed.

Salomon Torres was just traded to the Brewers for two so-so minor league relievers, according to a story just posted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: http://blogs.jsonline.com/brewers/archive/2007/12/07/brewers-trade-for-pirates-torres.aspx

The story is behind a login, so here is an excerpt about the players in return:

Marino Salas compiled a 1.42 ERA with 17 saves in 37 outings at Huntsville and a 4.94 ERA in 14 outings at Nashville, with a total of 22 walks and 54 strikeouts in 61 2/3 innings.

Kevin Roberts, 23, a fifth-round draft pick in 2005 out of the University of Houston, made 45 appearances for high Class A Brevard County, going 6-3 with a 3.44 ERA and four saves. In 65 1/3 innings, he allowed 51 hits and 37 walks while logging 74 strikeouts.

Both Salas and Roberts are right-handers.

There has been lots of talk on Bucs Dugout about bad personnel decisions by Dave Littlefield, so I thought it would be interesting to put together a theoretical active roster. This consists of players that have been with the Pirates in the past (or present) and are currently on 40-man MLB rosters. It was both a fun and painful exercise.

This definitely requires a community effort, because it is difficult to track every player that has gone through the system. My crack at a 25-man team is below. Note that I acknowledged trades that netted certain players -- so, for example, I had to choose between Xavier Nady and Oliver Perez, since they were traded for each other.

LINEUP
CF Gary Matthews
2B Freddy Sanchez
RF Jason Bay
LF Barry Bonds
3B Aramis Ramirez
1B Adam LaRoche
C Ryan Doumit
SS Jack Wilson

BENCH
INF Ty Wigginton
INF Jeff Keppinger
INF/OF Jose Bautista
OF Jose Guillen
OF Kenny Lofton
C David Ross

ROTATION
RHP Chris Young
LHP Tom Gorzelanny
RHP Ian Snell
LHP Oliver Perez
RHP Bronson Arroyo

BULLPEN
RHP Matt Capps
RHP Leo Nunez
LHP Paul Maholm
RHP Salomon Torres
LHP John Grabow
LHP Damaso Marte

The strength of the pitching staff is somewhat exciting -- which goes to show what having Chris Young would mean to the Pirates. The offense, while markedly better, would likely still fall short of championship-caliber. This reaffirms the fact that the quality of hitters throughout the system has been mediocre, at best, for many years. Still, it would have been interesting to have several of these players take the field together.

Feel free to make edits -- many are likely necessary. For instance, I'm not sure if the bullpen needs three LHP. Or if Doumit should be the starting catcher. And having Jack Wilson at SS makes me cringe, so I need help there.

Of course, if this exercise was done for every other MLB team, I have no doubt that our theoretical 25-man roster would finish with another 67-95 record. Yet another indictment of team management.

On ESPN tonight, Peter Gammons reported that Pirates owners are talking to lots of people in baseball and are considering "cleaning house" on the player personnel side and starting over in an attempt to get the club on the right track. Gammons said this is aimed squarely at Dave Littlefield and Jim Tracy, and may take place sooner rather than later. The new CEO would play a role in initiating this.

On a side note, Gammons also called Littlefield and Tracy two of the nicest guys in baseball. If that's true, then baseball is full of a#%holes.