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Before you read on, click here. Andy Smith of Squirrel Hill put this together and sent it to me yesterday, and there was no way I could not share.

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Q: Dejan, what seemingly lost trait will Jason Bay relocate first, his confidence or his passion? Have you ever seen such a consistently elite level player look so lost -- especially with the called third strikes -- as Bay has over the past two months?

Matt Fromm of Etters, Pa.

KOVACEVIC: The confidence and passion could be related, Matt, although that obviously is not ideal. I go back to a play Monday night, where Bay clearly looked ticked off -- a rarity -- that Colorado seemed intent on testing his arm -- not a rarity -- and reared back and put everything he had to keep Willy Taveras to a single in the second inning.

Not everyone is made of fiery stuff, and no one has yet to convince me that being emotionally charged has any direct benefit to hitting, but there is no question that Bay has not been able to keep his tangibles or intangibles at a high level this season.

Q: Dejan, now that the Philadelphia Phillies have broken the 10,000 barrier for losses in franchise history, how close are our beloved Buccos to this hallowed mark? This franchise has had seven winning seasons since 1979, and it seems like there has been more losing than winning during the franchise's long history.

Roy Stevanus of Elizabeth Township

KOVACEVIC: The Pirates' record through Tuesday is 9,596-9,344, and they have won nine National League pennants and five World Series. Do not let the ineptitude of the past decade and a half cloud the still positive history of this 121-year-old franchise, Roy. It would be quite unfair to the many great players, managers and executives of the past.

Q: You suggested in Monday's chat that there may be more money available next year if spent wisely. I've long thought that it's not quite so much how much you spend, but what it is spent on that really matters.

Is it reasonable to expect that a savvy new GM who either recognizes talent himself or can rely on an aide who can do so, could reasonably trade one or two players from amongst Sanchez, Bay, Nady or LaRoche to acquire more talent such as in the Giles for Perez and Bay trade? Or would the perception be that fan favorites being traded would cause too much fan discontent?

A couple of legit, moderately priced free agents coupled with an infusion of talented new blood should land this team at .500.

Bob Lucas of Radford, Va.

KOVACEVIC: What I wrote in the chat, Bob, was that Bob Nutting's business model -- in all businesses -- does not include throwing away money sight unseen. However much he might or might not know about baseball, he certainly understands that $17.5 million that was spent last year -- Jeromy Burnitz, Joe Randa, Sean Casey, Roberto Hernandez -- has left the team with Brian Rogers.

From there, it is possible -- though the proof will come in the execution, obviously -- that Nutting could increase payroll once he has more of a trust factor in how it will be spent.

As for your other points, whether it is a "savvy new GM" or the one currently in place, the primary emphasis has to be on drafting, signing Latin American amateurs and developing them properly, much, much, much more so than trades and free-agent signings that draw all the attention. The savviest GMs in the business are the ones sitting on surplus talent produced internally. And it is from that base that good trades are made, and fewer holes need to be filled by free agents.

Q: I remember talk before the season that Pirates were still paying a part of Jason Kendall's contract. Now that he has been traded from Oakland, does that change anything?

Patrick Neville of Mount Vernon, Ohio

KOVACEVIC: It was not "talk," Patrick. It was documented time and again, going back for years.

Still, there have been misconceptions and misstatements that the Pirates are paying part of Kendall's salary. That is never how it worked. As the above link shows, it was an exchange of money between the Pirates and Athletics. The Athletics made payments the past two years, and the Pirates made a payment this year. Kendall was -- and will continue to be -- paid only by his active employer.

Until tomorrow ...