I just noticed that Humberto Cota was in the lineup again in today's rainout with Oliver Perez on the hill. That Jim Tracy continues to allow Cota to caddy Perez seems absurd - Tracy is apparently frustrated with Perez, and while Tracy hasn't said so, there are whispers that Perez may soon be sent to the minors. Shouldn't a pitcher who's allowed to have his own no-hit personal catcher be a whole lot better than a guy on the verge of being sent to the minors?

And isn't the rationale for making Ronny Paulino the new starting catcher and for making Ryan Doumit look silly at first base supposed to be that Paulino is magical with pitchers? Paulino has hit well the last few days, but when he was anointed the starting catcher, he actually wasn't hitting much, and Tracy credited Paulino with improving the pitching staff.

I think that's silly, and that Paulino had little, if anything, to do with improvements to the staff. But if Tracy really believes that, why in the world wouldn't he want to see what the magical Paulino can do for Perez? And if Tracy doesn't actually believe Paulino's game-calling saves the Pirates runs, why were we seeing Doumit (and Craig Wilson, who sat one game while Doumit played first) sit on the bench while Paulino had a 600 OPS out there starting?