TODAY'S HEADLINES

Hines will give it a go: #86 is going to attempt to play against the Browns in the bitter Cleveland cold. That's always good for a sore hamstring. But I'd still take Hines at 10% over Limas Sweed at 1,000%.

Also inactive for the Black and Gold on Thursday: third QB Charlie Batch, CB Keenan Lewis, RB Carey Davis, S Troy Polamalu, G Kraig Urbik, OT Tony Hills, DT Ra'Shon Harris and DE Nick Eason. [PFT]

Pirates dive into Rule 5: Meet your newest Pirate project, soon-to-be 26-year-old John Raynor, last of the Florida Marlins organization. The speedy outfielder batted .257 for Class AAA New Orleans last season, with six HR, 24 doubles, two triples, 36 RBI and 19 SB.

Baseball America named Raynor the fastest baserunner in the Class AA Southern League in 2008. The Pirates must pay Florida $50,000 for his rights, and if he does not stay on the major league roster all year, he will be available to the Marlins for $25,000. [PBC Blog]

One controversial banner: When the ACLU has to get involved so a Steelers Country banner can stay up, it just might be a sign of the apocalypse. [PG]

Jason Bay headed back to the NL? J-Bay is being hotly pursued by the New York Mets, who have reportedly offered him a four-year deal worth $65 million. The Red Sox, Angels, and Mariners have also been mentioned as possible homes for Bay in 2010 and beyond. A return to the Pirates is not on the agenda. [SI]

Brian Kelly to ND: In three seasons at Cincinnati, Brian Kelly went 34-6 and won two conference championships, so it goes without saying that others in the Big East have no problem with him taking the vacant Notre Dame job. He'll inherit a team that's gone 16-21 the past three seasons, and to top it off, they're losing Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate to the NFL. At least their fans have proven that they're patient and rational. [WPXI]

Looking back at a decade of baseball: SI is continuing their "best/worst of the decade" series, and now it's baseball's turn. Somehow, the Pirates avoid the "Worst Franchise" tag, which went to Kansas City. But we did lay claim to the best New Stadium (PNC Park) and a former Pirate who takes home the Biggest Villain title, Barry Lamar Bonds. [SI]

A Burgh accent gets national exposure: Mt. Lebanon grad Gillian Jacobs is on the NBC show Community, and she discusses her Pittsburgh roots (and Bret Michaels' accent) at the 6:30 mark of this recent clip from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson:

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THE PIRATES WILL NOT BE IGNORED

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The Penguins are knee-deep in the NHL Playoffs. The World Champion Steelers are preparing for this weekend's NFL draft. Traditionally, the Pirates are usually statistically eliminated by this point, and Adam LaRoche is hitting around .018 or so. They're already an afterthought. But this year? That's a different story. The Pirates are 7-6, they've thrown four shutouts (two more than their 2008 total), and they lead the league in team ERA. I hope they serve smelling salts at the All You Can Eat Counter, because we might need them to revive us after hearing statistical revelations like those.

Last night, the Battlin' Bucs, coming off a blowout loss to Atlanta on Sunday, locked horns with the one-loss Florida Marlins. Surely, this would be the second game in the Pirates' inevitable free-fall. But not so fast, my friend.

Ross "Mr. Wonderful" Ohlendorf (as you can see, I'm not giving up on that nickname) pitched seven innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, and the Pirates defeated the Marlins, 8-0, in front of a little more than 8,000 at PNC Park.

The Pirates, who have scored 51 runs in its seven wins this season but just nine runs in six losses, decided to bring their bats on this night, with Nate McLouth driving in four and becoming the 23rd player to have a home run reach the Allegheny River via a bounce. In fact, every position player for the Pirates had at least one hit against the Marlin combination of Andrew Miller and Logan Kensing.

The two teams face off again tonight opposite Pens-Flyers, and the first pitch will be thrown at 7:05 PM. RHP Jeff Karstens (0-0, 6.75) goes for the Pirates against Florida RHP Anibal Sanchez (1-0, 1.64). Will the Pirates score 8, give up 11, score 2, or give up 0? This year, anything's possible.

Ohlendorf, Pirates cool off torrid Marlins, 8-0 [PG]

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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]

PREPARE FOR LIFE WITHOUT BEAKER

After hearing the news that the Pirates may be part of a trade involving Manny Ramirez, I was intrigued. Imagine acquiring "The Next Manny Ramirez" (Jose Tabata) and the real Manny Ramirez within a few days of each other! The world has never seen such a combination of craziness fused with RBI.

Of course, my hopes were dashed with the news that Manny would instead be heading to Florida as part of a three-way trade with the Marlins, who see no problem taking on a guy who has an entire Wikipedia section devoted to his brain-freeze moments. All they can see is "16 years, 1672 RBI, .313 BA, .409 OBP, 510 HR" dancing in their heads.

In return for Manny, the Marlins would send the Pirates OF Jeremy Hermida and a package of prospects, rumored to include 21-year-old right-handed starter Ryan Tucker and Low-A slugger Mike Stanton.

And for their part in the deal, the Pirates would finally part ways with Jason Bay (shown below), as well as P John Grabow, who would both be going to Boston for direct competition with Yankees Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.

Keep in mind that these are all rumors and that absolutely nothing is official. Also keep in mind that with all these changes, I'll have my work cut out for me with so many new cast members for next year's Pittsburgh Pirates: The Movie IV.

This just in: Ian Snell to the Mets? It's being discussed.

Pirates talk Bay trade in multiple directons [PG]

MLB Trade Rumors