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I will be taking a day off Sunday for the series finale against the Phillies, then hit the road for a week's worth of games at New York's very old stadium and Washington's brand new one . . .

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Q: If teams are kicking themselves now for not trading for John Grabow, do you see the Pirates being able to pull in a hefty ransom for him if he continues to look so good?

In fact, Tyler Yates, Matt Capps and Damaso Marte all would seem to be our best trading chips as the year goes on. That seems to be one position that contenders are always scrambling to acquire. Detroit would probably give up its entire Class AAA team to get some decent help in the pen.

Bennett Aikin of Mt. Lebanon

KOVACEVIC: Todd Brown, a Marine from Washington, Pa., currently serving in Al Asad, Iraq, wrote in with a similar thought process, Bennett, and I have a feeling -- not just because of that -- that we are seeing the start of a trend: When any veteran does well, he instantly will be viewed as a trading chip.

Thing is, that might be the correct view. For one, new management has done anything but make a secret of its long-term intentions. For another, a couple of those players you cite -- not Capps, though -- were shopped this winter.

As for the "hefty ransom," a good reliever usually is not worth that, but Grabow still has another year of arbitration before he can declare free agency, which should accentuate his value in proportion to his performance. Teams love knowing they can keep a guy they get in a trade.

Still, there are no apparent talks between the Pirates and anyone else at the moment regarding any player. Nothing firm, anyway. And my feeling is that they most likely would rather let more of the season play out before beginning the dealing process, anyway.

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Q: Dejan, I have been reading the Post-Gazette for several years, and I still watch the Pirates religiously even though I am on the West Coast and have been stationed here as part of the Marines and now as a civilian for the past seven years.

Anyway, over the past two games, I have noticed something about Doug Mientkiewicz. When Nate McLouth was visibly upset after being thrown out at second the other night and started losing control a little, it was Mientkiewicz who got off the bench and said something. Leadership!

Also, when the Pirates were starting to get on a roll the other night and he tried to stretch the hit into a double and was called out, he was animated and showed some fire. Leadership!

How much has he set the tone on this team?

Accountability and leadership cannot be emphasized enough, sometimes it is even more important than talent. It is what separates good military units and businesses apart from poor ones.

Paul Callahan of Palo Alto, Calif.

KOVACEVIC: I would never debate a military man, much less a Marine, on the value of leadership in that line of duty. But I will respectfully disagree with the apparent value you place on it in baseball.

First, I will say that Mientkiewicz has been exactly as advertised, on the field, in the dugout and in the clubhouse. He is anything but timid, always speaking loudly, always talking about the team, always focused on winning. Seriously. The guy never stops. I never have seen anything like him in this clubhouse.

One of my favorite examples -- and the one I see first-hand -- is how, when he is talking to me about something Pirates-related, he does so loud enough for everyone around him to hear. And everyone around him pretty much sits silently, as if to be minding their own business, but it is easy to see they actually are hearing every word.

That said, talent must come first. You can have all the fiery guys in the world but, in a precision sport like baseball, it matters not at all, if they cannot strike a baseball with the fat part of the bat.

The real reason that the players are listening to a guy like Mientkiewicz is the two-run single he lashed to left in the eighth inning Wednesday, one that buried the Cardinals. It was clutch as clutch could be. And it involved talent.

I also will disagree with your assessment that Mientkiewicz's tantrum at second-base umpire Laz Diaz illustrated leadership. And so would he, for that matter. He and I spoke about it afterward, and his feeling was one of regret and, in something I found interesting, that Diaz gave him a veteran's break by not tossing him the instant he threw that helmet into the dirt. He still insisted he was safe, but he wished he had not reacted as he did.

The last thing a team such as the Pirates needs is to have umpires holding grudges against them.

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Q: It is depressing to review your daily summary of the Pirates' minor-league teams, since it is obvious that there is so little major-league potential in the farm system. Years and years and years of draft picks in the early rounds have just not resulted in significant talent.

Evan Meek has that talent, and the team cannot afford to give him back. If you were the GM, what would you do with him?

Jim Corbelli of Hampton

KOVACEVIC: I am not the GM, Jim, but I can detail for you a couple of reasons why Neal Huntington is set on keeping Meek:

One, as you correctly point out, the Pirates do not have a lot of Meek in the system, to be kind. I tend to focus on legitimate prospects in doing those daily reports you cite, and I can tell you there are not many names or performances to highlight. In fact, if not for Altoona center fielder James Boone in the early going, there would not be much at all.

Huntington's long-term goal is to add depth of power pitching, and he sees Meek as being part of that. There is no question he would rather not have Meek at the major-league level right now, but he continues to think beyond 2008.

Two, the process of arranging to keep Meek another way is not one that likely will take place. For those who do not know, Meek first would have to clear waivers before being offered back to Tampa and, given how many other teams would welcome adding a fireballer to their system for the future, that probably would not happen. If it did, the Rays have the choice of either paying just $25,000 to get Meek back or arranging a trade. Well, if the parties tried to work out a trade, the Pirates would have to give up a comparable prospect to keep Meek.

There is not a lot there to pull that off.

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Q: Dejan, I was at the game Wednesday night, watching Adam LaRoche. In his last at-bat, he met that ball squarely, and it traveled about 300 feet.

Is he taking something off of his swing trying to just make contact?

Maybe they need the exact opposite approach with him than the one they're taking with Jose Bautista: Tell LaRoche to swing so hard that he screws himself into the ground if he misses the ball.

Michael Hoff of Crafton

KOVACEVIC: There is an inherent advantage in attending games to catch things like that, Michael, something I dare say could not have been detected on TV.

The mere sound of the ball off the bat gave a strong indication that LaRoche did, as you say, hit it 100 percent with the barrel. And it did absolutely nothing because the swing was so much less than 100 percent.

That said, your sharp observation probably could not be blown out into a full trend, from what I have seen, on this homestand and last week in Los Angeles, where the press box is far closer to the diamond: He still is getting his cuts, particularly at pitches up in the zone. Anyone in attendance Tuesday will recall that he nearly hit a foul ball into the river, striking that hideous Pirates Charities sign well above right field.

Plain and simple, the guy's swing timing is off. And, when it is not, he is not making good contact.

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The chat will have to be pushed back to Tuesday next week because I am flying Monday to New York, and the Q&A, as a result, will return Wednesday . . . .