The Pirates have talent. [ESPN]
A scouting trip prior to winning the Series? Buc visit White House. [Mondesi’s House]
Mark Zuckerman has the job of covering the Nats. Sounds fun. [Washington Times]
How bad do we need Snell to pitch deep into the game today? [Pirates.com]
"From DK at Post GazetteQ: What is Neal Huntington up to with the recent wave of minor league acquisitions? Organizational depth or diamonds in the rough?Dave Courtney of Nashville, Tenn.KOVACEVIC: One thing Huntington repeats regularly is his desire to hunt for pitching, all the time and everywhere. He has acknowledged, including just recently, that the pitching is not close to satisfactory throughout the system, and the acquisitions of Eric Hacker and Steven Jackson from the Yankees are clear signs of that dissatisfaction: Two pitchers were added to the 40-man, to removed.Some of it, as Huntington freely admits, is throwing stuff against the wall and seeing what sticks. But that is almost the accepted recipe for bullpen-building in baseball these days, and both of these pitchers can throw in relief.Funny thing about Jackson: When I mentioned to Jeff Karstens the other day that the Pirates had gotten Hacker, he quickly came back: “The guy they should get is Jackson. That would really be something.”Happened the next day.From a few Yankee blogs…He had a 1.88 Triple-A ERA this season, he was one of the best Scranton/Wilkes-Barre relievers last season and Baseball America ranked him in their Top 30 Yankees prospects. The year before he came to the Yankees, he was second in the Southern League in ERA as a starter.I wish they would just get rid of Marte. Garcia or Nady to the 60 day DL makes sense."