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Q: Dejan, I'm fired up after reading about the LaRoche-Gonzalez deal being off the table. As a full-season ticket holder, I was extremely excited the Pirates were doing something right for a change.

As much as I like Gonzalez, that deal needs to be made. We need another good young player like Adam LaRoche. In order to get a good young player, they have to give up a good young player. It does no good to have a good bullpen if they can't score runs.

I can't wait to ask Mr. Littlefield why he didn't pull the trigger at the next fans' Q&A. I'm starting to get the feeling another year of money-wasting is upon us.

Doug Goodwell of Moon Township

KOVACEVIC: You certainly were not alone in your feeling about that deal collapsing, Doug. Within an hour of my posting that story on our site at about 9 p.m., the inbox was getting crushed.

There is cause for that, too: LaRoche would have been a fine pickup, I think. A perfect fit for the Pirates in so many ways. And there is no shortage of baseball people I asked about it over the past 48 hours who felt the same way, many of they wording it similar to your second sentence.

As I wrote in the news piece, though, we might never know how it really fell apart. To be sure, Littlefield has a reputation for taking too long, asking too much. In this case, though, I spoke to so many other Pirates officials over the course of the morning and afternoon who said they were so excited to get LaRoche, so eager to hear from the Braves about Gonzalez's health, and even Littlefield seemed to be in a way upbeat mood when he met with reporters around 4:30 p.m.

There was not the tiniest trace from the Pirates' side of what was to come.

It is lousy news for fans of the team, to be sure, even within the context that a very good, young closer is remaining with the team. The Pirates have relievers, lots of them, and Salomon Torres probably would have been a fine closer. But hitters like LaRoche, in his salary and experience category, are not all that common. I heard some fantastic things about him this week.

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Q: Now that Dave dragged his feet on what would have been a very sensible move, what will consist of the plethora of unsensible moves that are heading this way? Larry Bigbie? Preston Wilson? Bill Mueller? What washed up veteran now comes in to once again fill the hole?

His moves or lack thereof continue to amaze me. At what point does his lack or inability to make sensible moves cost him his job?

John Gilger of Oneonta, N.Y.

KOVACEVIC: Without repeating all that is above, John, it is important to note there were two sides to this story, told by a whole slew of people all on the same page.

Still and all, the trade did not come off, and the GM certainly has to bear some responsibility for that. If it dragged too long, if the Braves were staying too quiet, why not call and offer to sweeten the pot if you feel that strongly about LaRoche? Would another player of some kind have been too costly? From what I heard, no other players on either side ever came up in these discussions. Maybe they should have. Atlanta is trying to trade Marcus Giles and could have used, perhaps, Jose Castillo.

And, as already mentioned, the Pirates still are without that lefty.

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Until tomorrow ... I offer a hearty, public congratulations to the All-Star left fielder and his wife on their first-born. As I told him yesterday, everything about his life has just changed ... for the better.