It's still a month away, but the topic is getting hotter by the day. Assuming that the Pirates will be buyers with both feet in (if they aren't I will personally organize a lynch mob to march on Huntington and Coonelly - no effigy, the real thing!), a lot of questions come to mind. The "who do we go after?" question is ridiculous at this point so let's not go there. For instance, the "empty the minor league system of all prospects and send them to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton" thing is absurd. Still, I have questions and am trolling for opinions.
1. What do we need?
Right field is a given.
Shortstop is being manned adequately at the moment by Jordy Mercer, but is that a dependable solution for September and a legitimate playoff run?
First Base is no better than OK with Sanchez doing well vs. lefties, but Jones no longer holding up his end in the platoon.
2. Do we go after proven major leaguers or try to pry away somebody's AAA phenom at a presumably lower price?
3. How much should management be concerned about controllable years?
4. Who is expendable? The Pirates biggest bargaining chip is/are the prospects. Someone - and probably someone better than Robbie Grossman - will have to go. No one is expendable, but...
5. And now, probably the biggest question of all: If the Pirates continue pulling rabbits out of hats for another 4 weeks, does management go all out for a run now under the theory that you only get limited chances and there are no guarantees we'll be in this position again, or do they continue to play "the future is not now" game?