Click here to submit your question

At the risk of turning the Q&A intro into a daily sap-fest, allow me, please, one more ...

Masumi Kuwata had very little impact on the Pirates from a baseball standpoint. But there was some intangible that seemed to touch everyone around him, from teammates to employees to, yes, those that covered him.

He and I spoke only occasionally, mostly because my job is to cover the players that have that impact described above. But there was something about his air where, even though he was a non-roster invitee with very little chance of making the team, the elite level he once enjoyed in Japan and the superstar level that he still does always shone through.

I always found that impressive, maybe somewhat akin to when Michael Jordan tried minor-league baseball: Someone of his stature, someone at his age and declining skills, took it upon himself to come to a foreign continent, put in time on the buses in the minor leagues even after a major ankle injury ... and made it.

Kuwata did not make a great impact, but it was a tremendous story

We have more Qs than usual ...

---

Q: No! I am not happy about this Tyler Yates-Todd Redmond trade at all. And Yates is immediately on the roster? What is the point of trading a prospect to shore up the bullpen at this point? Shouldn't we be doing the opposite? Trading to bring in prospects?

Marda Hook of New York

KOVACEVIC: Most of the feedback to the trade was negative. In fact, without having done some sort of count on the mail, it might have been unanimously negative.

Most, however, were focused solely on Yates' poor 2007, in which, as the regular coverage lays out, he really tailed off. Too many runs, too many hits.

But your point, Marda, might be the most relevant, and you were not the only one to raise it: By my view, Redmond was one of only four starting pitching prospects below the Class AAA level, and that made him potentially a more valuable commodity for the Pirates than he might have been for other teams. He also might have been the only legitimate prospect of any kind in Altoona.

He did step back a little in 2007, with an 8-13 record and 4.39 ERA in 28 starts between Lynchburg and Altoona, but he also is only 22 years old and already had made his way to the Curve, an achievement in and of itself.

There can be no question that this move was made with 2008 in mind, although it should be pointed out that, even though Yates is 30, he has less than three years of major-league service time, which means the Pirates could -- if they chose -- retain his rights another three years through arbitration.

We will see.

It is pointed out here often that the most important talent a team must evaluate is its own. I have gotten the impression that new management has gone to great lengths to understand its prospects, so this will be a very good test of that. If the Pirates know something about Redmond, more credit to them, particularly since most of new management probably has never seen the kid pitch.

---

Q: Concerning Tuesday's roster moves, I'm glad to see that the Bucs jettisoned Byung-Hyun Kim and swallowed the $300,000 rather than carry someone who clearly had not earned his way on to the team.

That's a good sign. On the other hand, the possibility of not keeping Sean Burnett, who has been outstanding in the relief role assigned to him, is not such a good sign. After all that Burnett's been through over the years, what does he have to do to make the team?

Bob Sproule of Franklin Park

KOVACEVIC: Taking those one at a time, Bob, it seems overly generous to describe Kim's buyout, as a whole, as a good move, if only because hindsight clearly shows the better move would have been to hold out for a minor-league contract. No other team had offered Kim a major-league contract, and only one other -- the Giants -- was known to have even a minor-league offer on the table.

But the buyout itself, as other readers seemed to agree with you, was popular. Two wrongs do not make a right, and the Pirates' hole with Kim might only have gotten deeper had they not addressed it. Just as important, the team might have suffered by carrying an ineffective pitcher.

Make no mistake: The Pirates were plenty disappointed in Kim, and not just once he started giving up a home run per inning.

As for Burnett ... suffice it to say I can predict the avalanche heading my way if he does not make it.

Setting aside the feel-good aspect -- which surely will be hard for some to do in Burnett's case after two major arm surgeries and given his fiercely competitive nature -- analyzing his potential demotion strictly from the pitching aspect would suggest a demotion will be enormously unpopular.

And not just with the citizens. With many of his teammates, too. Many of these players have known Burnett for years, have watched him agonize, watched him toil to get to where he is now.

What can he do to make the team, as you asked?

Seems to me it is hard to beat seven consecutive no-run, no-hit innings to close out your spring.

---

Q: Count me in as a Burnett supporter. This guy should make the team. He has done everything the organization has asked and overcame a lot in the past couple years, going from young stud to another injury casualty to being taken off the 40-man roster to proving himself in spring training.

I don't know much about Phil Dumatrait other than he is also a lefty, but it appears that he and Burnett are similarly talented pitchers, and I hope that management would choose the homegrown, struggle to overcome the odds guy over the Cincinnati castoff.

Jordan White of Monessen

KOVACEVIC: Like I said, emotion is not easily removed from the equation. And maybe, given new management's emphasis on promoting intangibles such as culture and accountability, an argument could be made that it should not be.

Like I said, I am braced for the avalanche.

---

Q: Dejan, even after Tuesday's article about Freddy Sanchez's injury, I'm not sure I understand how he can swing a bat but not throw a ball.

I'm not trying to be sarcastic here, but I just can't imagine being able to swing a bat if my shoulder hurt so much that I couldn't throw. Do you have any further details on his injury or possible explanations?

Hopefully, he can be back to 100 percent soon.

Anthony Markovich of Allison Park

KOVACEVIC: This is the best I can compile, Anthony, based on talking to the Pirates' staff and the second baseman himself ...

Sanchez's inflammation in the rotator cuff hurts him only when he throws with full force. If he throws even at 75 percent, he is fine. When he runs, he is fine. When he dives in the field to make a play, as he did once last week, he is fine. And when he hits, he is flat-out Freddy. Look at that .364 average.

The difference between the throwing and hitting is simple: A right-handed hitter, ironically, does most of his shoulder work with the left. That is the one that provides the path and the follow-through. For the same reason, Chris Duffy has been able to take BP all spring, but he still is not permitted to long-toss past 90 feet.

In Sanchez's case, doctors seem to feel there is one very specific motion that contributes to his pain and, after checking and now double-checking that nothing structural is wrong, feel that the best course is to simply keep testing what he can and cannot do.

---

Q: Dejan, I first wanted to thank you for running your Q&A while not in Bradenton. I am currently serving in Iraq, and reading up on the Pirates everyday is something I enjoy more than I can explain. Every little article helps.

Well, to the question at hand: Why are the Pirates not naming Ryan Doumit the starting catcher?

The impression I get from just reading is that Doumit has been much better, and he has more to offer than Ronny Paulino.

Would it not benefit the team to start with Doumit and platoon him with Paulino?

Thanks again.

Todd Brown of Washington, PA; currently serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Al Asad, Iraq

KOVACEVIC: New rule: Anyone serving in Iraq and Afghanistan no longer is allowed to thank me for anything. Consider it a marching order.

Anyway, the question is a valid one on many fronts. First, though, the likeliest scenario: Paulino will start the season as the catcher, but it might be no more than a 1 and 1A split between the two. Expect Doumit to see regular duty and, if he does well, to make it more than that.

Why not do it now?

The way I understand the Pirates' thinking on this, they want to tread lightly with Doumit, to a degree. (Waits for eyes to stop rolling.) He does have a history of injury, and much of the instruction he has had defensively this spring has been -- and Doumit will confirm this -- largely new to him. They would rather ease him into the process than simply throw him out there every day and risk a step backward.

Paulino? That, apparently, is up to him. There are only 30 such jobs on the planet, and he has one of them in his grip if he performs.

Oh, and to your personal side question, Todd, the answer is yes.

Take care of yourself.

---

Thing No. 81 that makes Pittsburgh great, by Sam Strohm of Crafton:

The entry the other week from the gentleman who pointed out the park on the South Side got me thinking about one of my favorite runs in the city. You may have mentioned this before, but I like it so much that it deserves another ...

Cross the Smithfield Street Bridge, and make a hard left through the past the Sports Garden -- it will always be the Sports Garden to me -- pass by the big steel kettle, and make a right. Follow the path along the river until it diverts you to away from the river. Follow the marked detour down Sarah Street until you cross over the tracks, and it deposits you back on the path along the river. This is where the route truly begins to shine.

Follow it along, and soon you will forget that you are in the city. In the summer, the trees are so dense that even, in the mid-day sun, you are surrounded by a cool shade. I sometimes double back and run this section twice because I enjoy it so much. It amazes me that, in a 10-minute run from Downtown, you can almost be in another world.

Follow this path under the 10th Street Bridge, and take one of the many accesses to the South Side. Back to the 10th Street Bridge, to the "Jail Trail," and back to civilization.

The other thing that I think bears a mention is the Allegheny County Park systems. So close to the city, and yet so far away. Golf, swimming, fishing, skiing, hiking, biking, all with in minutes of town. We are truly lucky.

KOVACEVIC: It will start freaking me out entirely when the readers' entries, particularly something as off-the-beaten-path as this, start overlapping my own ideas. I used to live in this area and made many a walk with my daughter through the trail you describe. It truly is amazing.

And it was on my list, which means you cost me one and now owe me another, Sam.

---

Until tomorrow ...