Personally, I wasn't surprised the Pirates lost out in the Kevin Youkilis sweepstakes, and I don't think it's a death blow to our chances of a winning season that it worked out this way. I do think he'd have been a nice addition for the second half of the season and I'm very surprised at how little the White Sox had to give up.

Which led me to wonder what sort of counter offer the Pirates could have made. Specifically, what two Pirate players equate to Stewart and Lillibridge? Just looking at our roster, the two players who look most similar to me are Navarro (weak-hitting utility player) and Moskos (once-promising arm who now projects as a useful at best).

Maybe someone who knows our system better than I do can offer a better approximation, but that's as close as I can get. Anyway, if that (and $5 million worth of his remaining salary, I think) could have gotten the deal done, I'd have pulled the trigger.