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Remarkably, 52 games remain in this season ...

Q: DK, Tony Armas over Shane Youman? This certainly appears to be a blatent attempt to justify the misspending of the Armas salary over a younger pitcher who has shown promise.

Absent injury, can we really see Armas in the 2008 rotation, or even on the team? Youman has shown potential and, certainly, the rest of 2007 has to be all about potential development. Was this a manager's decision or a front-office decision?

David Petrel of Columbus, Ohio

KOVACEVIC: There has yet to be any hint that the Pirates are approaching the rest of this season with a future-minded view, David. That is evident in the decision you cite, as well as giving journeyman Matt Kata four starts in a row at third base a couple of weeks ago. Everything about the process right now points toward the team seeing some urgency to winning games down the stretch.

Why they are doing so or who precisely is calling that shot is not known. And probably will not be known for however long it lasts.

What also is not known, as I wrote Sunday, is whether the team might abandon all of this in September and give some playing time to callups such as Steve Pearce, Nyjer Morgan, Brian Bixler or others.

Your larger point about the Pirates having much to gain from giving nine or 10 starts to Youman rather than Armas, one would think, is indisputable. Armas has a $5 million option for next year and no chance of having that picked up. Youman is the team's property for the next six years. Even if all that comes of it is a clear determination that Youman is not a major-league pitcher, that in and of itself could be deemed more valuable than resuscitating Armas.

Are people in management concerned about their jobs? No question about it.

Q: DK, let's assume for a second that Bob Nutting is going to be the savior of this franchise. Let's say he finds a great CEO who comes in, puts the Bucs on a five-year plan and just burns the house down. I'm talking about replacing the GM, the scouting director and all of his scouts, the coaching staff ... everybody.

Is there any precedent in Major League Baseball history for a team doing a complete top-to-bottom rebuild like I just described?

Mike Bailey of Montgomery Village, Md.

KOVACEVIC: Sure, there is, Mike. Happens all the time. Essentially, it happened here in Pittsburgh in 2001 when Cam Bonifay was fired. Lloyd McClendon did stay on, as did some of his coaching staff. But the rest of it was blown into the sky.

Even Mickey White, the team's successful scouting director who authored three fine drafts, was replaced by Dave Littlefield's choice, Ed Creech.

Before I answer your question, I will cite this from a reader, Bob Flaherty of Carmel, Ind., who wrote last week: "You've received a lot of mail and written quite a bit about the CEO position and how important and impactful the choice will be. But I rarely hear about the impact of a CEO at other teams and what contributions they make to the organization. I am an avid follower of baseball and would be hard pressed to name five CEOs in the game."

To be clear here: What makes the CEO hire as important as I have been stressing of late is not so much the role he will play down the road but, rather, the direction in which he will send the organization by performing stark, objective and painstaking analysis of all that maligns this organization.

From there, the moves that the CEO makes -- or does not make -- will have an enormous impact on the Pirates at all levels.

Q: After another player-Jim Colborn confrontation, Jim Tracy again relayed that he had no idea what happened or what was said. Is it that hard to hear in the dugout? Is Tracy not paying attention? Or does he just not want to share?

Rick Lang of Bethel Park

KOVACEVIC: Only Tracy himself would know that, of course. Based on his responses to other questions on internal matters such as that, I would have to guess that he would not divulge what he heard even if he heard it. Not many managers or coaches in any sport would.

As for Colborn, it should be noted that, by all accounts, he and Snell made up quite quickly and apparently have no lingering issues. But that, too, only could be known for certain among the various parties. None of us is a mind-reader.

Q: Dejan, which do you find harder, or more likely, frustrating ... covering a dreadful, losing, boring team night after night or facing the hordes of questions in a chat room or from irate fans' emails?

My bet is, either way, you're like a dentist performing roots canals all day long.

Bob Lucas of Radford, Va.

KOVACEVIC: I have no complaints about the job or the beat. None. And that is for real, as anyone who knows me can attest.

As for the interaction with the readers, I am fairly confident I have shown over the years how much I appreciate that. How happy or angry they are with the team has nothing to do with me directly, and I understand that.

Until tomorrow ...