Kontos has more pure stuff, but he’s also missed time with shoulder problems in the past, and in my book it’s a real black mark against him that he got arrested (for what amounts to “excessive partying”) in his first year as a pro.

McCutchen has enough pure stuff to be a good starter, which we’ll need, and he’s supposed to be intensely competitive. Competitiveness is probably THE single most important psychological trait in determining which pitchers succeed and which don’t.

I’m OK with McCutchen not having a star-level ceiling, because I think he’s almost a sure bet to be at least useful, and as such he moderates some of the risk associated with having a guy like Tabata in the trade.

My $0.02, anyway.

I am starting to come around to it. We are getting some interesting talent here.

Here is how www.minorleagueball.com ranked them within the Yankees system before the 2008 season:

2. Jose Tabata – B+
...
10. Dan McCutchen – C+ (for comparison, Brad Lincoln was also rated C+)

Ohlendorf was ranked the 9th best prospect in the Yankees’ system by BA before the season (he wasn’t ranked by minorleagueball).

McCutchen and Ohlendorf won’t be impact pitchers but if they can be solid then this is a pretty good addition. I mean let’s face it, nobody was going to give us top of the rotation type prospects for Nady/Marte and I don’t blame them. I think this is a pretty fair trade.

One interesting thing about it is, Marte and Nady are both having great seasons, while Ohlendorf and Tabata are having poor seasons. It appears that we are exchanging two guys at max value for two guys whose ‘value curve’ is at a minimum. In other words, we are trying to buy low and sell high. If Tabata and Ohlendorf had excelled this year I’d doubt we could have got them. For a team with limited resources like us, these are exactly the types of moves that should be made. Our acquisitions of guys like Michaels, Mientkiewicz, D. Bautista and Yates probably also fall into this category.

was this little nugget about the Bucs 6th round pick Robbie Grossman:

* OF Robbie Grossman, the Pirates’ sixth-round draft pick from Cy-Fair High School in Cypress, Texas, took batting practice at PNC Park prior to Saturday’s night game and opened some eyes by driving a ball over the right-field stands. Grossman, who has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Texas, said he is "50-50" on whether he will sign with the Pirates by the Aug. 15 deadline

Wonder if he can be swayed to forego the Longhorns and get his pro career going? Better yet, wonder if the PBC will throw the $$$ his way to make those 50-50 odds improve?