This article about the Bucs wanting to acquire a left-handed power hitter is the sort of thing that could have been written at just about any time in the last five years, but there's an interesting tidbit buried in the middle of it:
Freddy Sanchez will play every day at second or third base. The other spot will go to Jose Castillo or Bautista.
Jack Wilson and Jason Bay will remain fixtures at shortstop and left field, respectively.
If Wilson is at short, Sanchez at second or third and Bautista at second or third, where does Castillo play? Surely the Bucs aren't planning on using him off the bench. Right? Right?
Might this mean that Castillo will be trade bait for that left-handed power hitter the Bucs need? The Pirates don't seem to like Castillo much, but I'd still be pretty shocked if they traded him. Dave Littlefield has mostly opted to hold onto players as long as he possibly can before trading them. The Bucs made no bones about having no use for Craig Wilson, and yet they waited until the last possible second to trade him even though other teams wanted him. Castillo has three seasons left before he can leave as a free agent. I think they'd send him to the bench before they traded him.
I'm not a huge fan of Bautista's defense in center field, but I don't understand why the Pirates would rather have Castillo out of the lineup and a huge hole in center than having them both in the lineup.