Interesting Dejan Kovacevic column today. Dave Littlefield says that finding a first baseman is his top priority, meaning that he doesn't think that Brad Eldred is quite ready yet, which sounds about right. He's interested in acquiring Olmedo Saenz. Given that Littlefield wants to put Eldred, a promising but problematic player, in the minors for a while, he's choosing a good guy to go after in Saenz. Saenz can hit, and he'll be cheap because he's injury prone, doesn't have a lot of defensive value, and is perceived as being a bench player. Basically, he'll cost about what Daryle Ward did last year, but he'll hit about twice as well. He should provide good offense while not preventing the Pirates from signing a more expensive player at another position. If you're going to have a stopgap player at first, Saenz is a very good one to have.
Kovacevic reports that the Bucs are also interested in Milton Bradley. Everyone knows what to expect from Milton: above-average hitting at a tough position and several, uh, incidents per season. The Pirates have already had a lot of guys who aren't exactly boy scouts on their team recently - Jason Boyd, Rob Mackowiak, and so on. Bradley seems to be worse than those guys in that he seems to bring his problems to the clubhouse on a pretty regular basis, but he at least has the kind of talent that makes you want to put up with it. I'm sure he's an obnoxious guy, but I'd want him on my team.