Tike: It looks like the players were right on in their thoughts on Nate being important to this team. Is it possible that he and not Cutch, could be the long term answer in center?

Dejan Kovacevic: First off, greetings from some random hotel north of Los Angeles. It is a spectacular day here for everyone, I presume, but the local baseball team, which has lost five of six and now has to deal with your suddenly dangerous PBC. ... Yes, the players' poll taken in the final week of spring certainly nailed the McLouth breakout, at least to this very early extent. As for long term, my feel is that McLouth would move to left if Andrew McCutchen were here. But he is not.

Pickman: I know its early, and we're only looking at 2 weeks worth of regular season games into this season, but Nate McClouth is a welcome surprise. I don't expect this pace to continue, but he provides something at the leadoff spot that I've never seen on the Pirates since the brief period that Kenny Lofton was on this team ... and before that, I can't think of any as a 30 yr old fan.

Dejan Kovacevic: Again, patience is advised. McLouth has done very, very well in the early going. But he will not hit .400 or have a .500 on-base percentage by season's end, which means difficulties surely will hit him at some point. But, yes, he does look like he could become a fine everyday player, if only because he has been exactly that when given a chance, including that August showing last year.

roninbuc: Dejan, any internal talk of Gomez getting some starts at SS as Jack will be out for a while. Bixler is getting better, but still seems shaky turning the DP when needed. Is Bixler and Rivas Russell's only options at this point?

Dejan Kovacevic: This remains a strange thing. Management had said it wanted to test Gomez in the spring to see if he could handle short, but he seldom was there. This is someone who was almost exclusively a shortstop until just the past couple years. ... Still, no, to answer your question, Gomez at short rarely comes up.

Pickman: I can absolve Rivas a bit since prior to the year you can count on two hands his career starts at SS, but is Bixler's defense truly this bad or an aberration cause of nerves with his first call-up to the majors? (PS: get healthy soon Jack)

Dejan Kovacevic: I would give him the benefit of the jitters excuse for a couple of the routine things that have gone awry. But his defensive pedigree always has trailed that of his offense, and it is the primary reason that so many seem to have labeled him a utility-type player in the past year or so.

Florida_Buc: Dejan, thoroughly enjoy your columns daily from down here in South Florida. I have been out of town since the last week in Spring Training, and never heard of the Pirates share from revenue sharing throughout the offseason, and was wondering if that was published since the season began? With that said, Do you see the Bucs spending the money necessary to keep some some of these guys here, as well as dabble into the difference maker free agent market? Not the serviceable free agents, but the impact players? Is Huntington interested in anything like that, or is he the cliche build from within type guy?

Dejan Kovacevic: Been over that extensively in our preseason coverage, which you can still find on our Pirates page by clicking on days 1-5 at the bottom of that box. ... Short version: Someday, the Pirates say, they will spend. But not until they are sure they have the young core in place, as happened in Milwaukee.

thedoctorisrealin: Is the lack of middle infield depth the reason the Pirates keep throwing an obviously ailing Sanchez out there?

Dejan Kovacevic: If you are suggesting they are forcing Sanchez to play, that would be 180 degrees wrong. Sanchez is extremely eager to be out there.

jimb056: Hi Dejan, Can this be true? .500 baseball after 12 games? And if Bixler had tried to score on Bautista's bunt we could be 7-5. OK, when does this bubble burst?

Dejan Kovacevic: At the risk of sounding cynical, a successful series against the Dodgers is such a rarity that I cannot even recall the last one. And the Dodgers, as mentioned, are playing poorly enough that a breakout could be coming on their end. Their lineup is just way too good to be hitting as it is.

KSBLOOM: I understand that Adam LaRoche needs to stay in the line-up to work out his swing, but don't you think it would be better to move him out of the clean-up spot? Put him in the 7 or 8 hole until he works out his issues?

Dejan Kovacevic: That argument certainly could be made. LaRoche, as most probably recall, was very comfortable as a No. 7 guy in Atlanta, and it is not as if he would take umbrage at being dropped. He is hardly the type.

Pickman: Not only was Jason Bay coming around, but another encouraging line this weekend was that from the starters. Hopefully they can provide their 6+ innings of quality work, do you think that Gorzo in particular may turn it around or is there still a concern with the multitude of baserunners and lack of velocity?

Dejan Kovacevic: Gorzelanny appeared to pitch plenty well enough yesterday, especially given the cold and dampness and very visible -- possibly resultant -- lack of velocity. He did exactly what the Pirates have been pushing him to do, which is simply trust his stuff and keep it in the zone. More often than not, contact is not great when he does that.

Tike: Do you feel that the players notice and are affected by the national lack of respect that they receive?

Dejan Kovacevic: You mean like Jose Bautista getting ESPN's play of the day last night on "SportsCenter" on a day when the Masters, Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL were in full swing? ... This subject comes up way too much for my taste, to be honest. National respect will be found first in the standings.

Rock_Wehner: Is there any way we can convince Adam LaRoche that it isn't April now, that it is actually August? Maybe someone can change all the calendars in his house and in the Pirates' clubhouse.

Dejan Kovacevic: It never ends, it seems. And he did so many different things this offseason and looked plenty comfortable in spring training. But here it is again. ... We will see. This could be different. That thumb has been an issue since the opening series and, just when he hit that big home run the other night, he was knocked out by a really nasty flu.

Nextyearfan: Dejan, let's play a game of what if... we had drafted just about anyone but Bullington in 2002. List is to long to write down but a small sampler, Fielder, Upton, Kasmir, K Green, Swisher, etc, not to mention last year draft. Hope is eternal, here is hoping they do a better job this year.

Dejan Kovacevic: There is no question the Pirates have fared poorly with their first-round picks for a very, very long time now. But you can play that game with all 30 teams every year and embarrass all 30 of them.

Tike: Is there any way that you can see the Pirates trying to sign and keep Nady?

Dejan Kovacevic: No. Not with him a year-plus away from free agency. Not with Scott Boras as his agent. Not with Steve Pearce and other possibilities in the outfield. Not with the Pirates needing, at some point, to get some prospects into the system.

Tike: I am curious about your logistics. Do you travel with the team and stay at the same hotels?

Dejan Kovacevic: I never travel with the team in any capacity. I arrange my own, and the Post-Gazette pays for it.

Craigwilson: How much longer can they stick with Jose Bautista? He has been painfully bad. Can Chris Gomez play any third?

Dejan Kovacevic: If he could, how would that address any of the Pirates' issues long-term? If Bautista is not the answer -- and Neil Walker arrives by 2009 -- now is the time to find out.

Rock_Wehner: Do the Pirates have anything left in the tank for tonight's game? After the all the extra inning games so far, it would have been nice for Mr. Schedule-maker to give the Pirates a day off before a cross county roadtrip.

Dejan Kovacevic: Do not get me started on Mr. Schedule-Maker.

Matt_from_Southside: Jack Wilson's on the DL, but I've seen him on TV in the dugout walking around and smiling--what's his status?

Dejan Kovacevic: Wilson is limping more than walking. Seems very unlikely he will be ready to play when he is due to come off the DL Saturday in Chicago.

jecpgh: Dejan, did you see Ronnie actually tag a runner out at the plate the other day? Might the catcher position actually be a Bucco strength?

Dejan Kovacevic: Saw the tag. Still seemed a little slow, but the ball stayed in the glove the entire time. ... From an offensive standpoint, I could see the catcher position being a strength, given that Paulino kills lefties and Ryan Doumit does likewise to righties. Defensively, it remains very much a work in progress on both fronts.

Scary_Gary: Will Sean Burnett have to pitch 50 scoreless innings before a call up?

Dejan Kovacevic: Maybe. Remember, though, management's leaning out of the spring was that they wanted to see a month or so, and we are well short of that right now. But yes, Burnett has been very good. No runs allowed as a reliever, not even in Grapefruit League games. The only runs he gave up were as a starter in February, his first spring outing.

japan: How does Matt Morris stack up against the Dodgers?

Dejan Kovacevic: There is no one in the lineup who has particularly strong career numbers against him, to the best of my recollection from looking at it the other day. But how he fares tomorrow probably will have much more to do with whether he pitches like he did for the first five innings the other night or how he left the ball up in the sixth. Plain and simple, he has to keep the fastball down.

llash: It looks as though Bixler is over matched both on offense and defense. Why don't the Pirates add Josh Wilson to the roster?

Dejan Kovacevic: He remains on the radar, and it should not be ruled out, especially if Jack Wilson is out for any great period of time. Josh Wilson played a good shortstop in the spring, but, then, so did Luis Rivas.

vanslick: As a 25 year old Pirates fan, I can still remember crying myself to sleep after game 7 of the '92 NLCS. I don't want to be premature, but don't you think it is safe to say that the Huntington/Russell approach may have this club moving in the right direction? I don't expect any miracles in the near future, but do you think things are looking better for the future of PBC?

Dejan Kovacevic: If you want to base that on building something sustainable over a very long period of time, sure, there have been several encouraging signs involving not just Huntington and Russell but also Frank Coonelly, the man overseeing it all. But if you want to base that on sweeping the Reds over the weekend with how awfully Cincinnati played (which you did not, to be fair) ... I would advise judging everything you see from the longer term.

jimb056: Does it seem to you that Russell is leaving the starters in a little longer than Tracy did, and might the starters respond to this vote of confidence?

Dejan Kovacevic: He is leaving all of his pitchers in longer than Tracy, including the bullpen. But that might also have much to do with all these extra-inning games. Too soon to see a trend.

KesaKount: Should the fans be excited about Zach Duke, or is it much too early?

Dejan Kovacevic: What Duke is doing is legitimate. He has pitched quite well and, most important, his arm looks livelier than it has in three years. This bodes well for him and for the club. ... Whether you are excited about that or not is up to you, obviously, but I can tell you that Duke and his teammates are.

Florida_Buc: Do you feel that if this regime was in power last year, the pick would have been Wieters over Moskos, or is the money that tight?

Dejan Kovacevic: Based on what I have heard, there is no question it would have been Wieters. I have written about this many times, but for newcomers: Money was not the issue with Wieters. If it was, the Pirates never would have been able to trade for Matt Morris, whose guaranteed money will end up being more than triple Wieters' $6 million signing bonus.

theWellHungarian: Does this year make you miss covering the Penguins? Most exciting team in hockey going after a Cup vs. the least exciting team in MLB chasing a .500 record

Dejan Kovacevic: More on this in the Q&A later in the week. Time is up. ... Q&A returns tomorrow.