AS THE BAY TURNS

As trade deadlines go, this year's version has been pretty awesome. Look at all the big names changing teams: Ken Griffey Jr., Rich Harden, Ivan Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixiera, to name a few.

But as a Pirate fan, we've become accustomed to Dave Littlefield having demands deemed by opposing GMs as way too high, followed by a price-slash panic near the deadline that brought us returns like Bobby Hill for Aramis Ramirez in the past. We are conditioned to dread this time of year.

Fortunately, Neil Huntington has been much more efficient (or so it appears) in his first trading deadline, so much to the point that Dejan Kovacevic said "...there seems to be this growing sense that it is the Pirates really dictating this process," when discussing the Bay deal. So that gives Pirate fans a small (*just a small) glimmer of hope for some better decision-making in the future.

The current buzz has ManRam approving the trade, coupled with the news of Peter Gammons suggesting the Marlins want the Sox to pony up as much as $9 million to cover more of Ramirez's salary. Of course, as I type this, I hear Jayson Stark at 1:44 PM on ESPN saying this is close to a dead deal.

Stay tuned for more updates, as we've got about two hours to go until the non-waiver deadline. Remember, trades do go down after the deadline, as witnessed by Brian Giles going to San Diego on August 26, 2003.

PBC Blog [PG]