Trade deadline rumormongering

Two general reports worth noting. Chris De Luca at the Chicago Sun-Times provides a list of available players and breaks down needs and desires on a team-by-team basis. He has both Benson and Wells on the list. His "source" is "writers covering all 30 teams." Not sure what that means; some of the worst and most unreliable writers are the guys who cover all 30 teams in a superficial fashion. I'm also suspicious of writers who insist the Pirates "are going nowhere."

Chris Kucharski at PittsburghLIVE.com did some homework and highlights some of the prospects the Pirates might be examining.

Phillies

Speaking for Phillies fans, Chuck Hixson writes that the Phillies would be "lucky" to acquire a pitcher of Benson's caliber. Brett Myers was awful last night; they need help. Interestingly, Ken Mandel catches the Phillies lowering fan expectations with Ryan Howard. Howard is a big boy on a home-run hitting tear. He's 24 and has no major-league service time. Here is his bio from Reading's home page.

230 pounds, hits left-handed, one of the slowest men on the basepaths. Sound familiar? In Howard's defense, he is 6'4" so the weight is not as heavy as it would be on a 6'0" slugger.

Ken Mandel reports that teams are not asking for Howard. It sounds like he's a few years away from the show and, at 24, that doesn't bode well for the upside of his career.

Giants

Kevin J. Cunningham offers his analysis of the trade market on a Giants fan site.

Mets

Jim Duquette signed a Cuban defector to relieve some of their need for starting pitching. Soler is a month away from helping. Duquette continues to bad-mouth the Pirates. He's using his bully pulpit - the New York media - in an attempt to browbeat Littlefield into making a deal that solves all the Mets' problems. That, or he's trying to blame the Pirates for his reluctance to make the deals that will help his team. "Hey, sorry fans, I tried to get Carlos Beltran and Kris Benson but those other GMs - who let them out of the asylum?" Fuck off, jackass. David Wright is not your first-born son, and he's not an unreasonable demand for a team that can't use Ty Wigginton and needs a third baseman. You don't see Dave Littlefield telling P-G reporters that Jim Duquette is stubborn and self-deluded.

Yankees

Sam Borden at the Daily News reports that Benson is "unappealing." The Yankees are making noise about doing OK with Kevin Brown and El Duque. Steinbrenner wants a deal, reports Mark Topkin of the St. Pete Times.

Finally, don't overlook Steve's report on what Benson says about a possible trade right now.

...just up: Bob Nightengale of USAToday says the Bucs are "lucky" Benson can pitch well. He talks up Colorado's Jason Jennings as the best available starter, and advises the Pirates to give Benson to the Mets. Thanks for the advice, Bob. Enjoy your free Mets tickets.