Is Derrick Lee Willie Stargell

Probably not, but Lee is hitting homers at an amazing pace. Remember he has only played about 7 games as a Pirate and has 4 homers. His price tag for next year is pretty big, but I would not be opposed to paying it. Offering him arbitration might be a good thing. If we get stuck paying him, we get a power bat at first which has been a problem. If he does not take it, then we get a Type B repayment, which is a draft pick after the second round and before the third round. I can take it.

Still, over all the Pirates have been playing better again. It was nice to see them beat up on the Cubs since the Cubs were there during our darkest hours this year. We owed them. Today versus the Astros was nice too. McDonald went 7.1 innings, which is a full inning longer than any of his other outings this year. Hanrahan got another save, and the Pirates only gave up one run, which should have been on an error. Tabata spun around like a top, jumped for no reason and still had it hit the side of his glove.

Another thing is don't look now, but Ryan Doumit is hitting .291. Are you kidding me? Two doubles today with a single thrown in to boot, and he looks great right now. I favor re-signing Doumit over re-signing Snyder. I really would rather them get someone new completely, but Doumit looks like a better player than Synder right now. More durable as well.

Soon there will be more call-ups as the Indians did not make the AAA playoffs so I expect Alvarez back up and a few others as well. The only one I am really looking forward to seeing is Evan Meek. I would like to see his speed and his performance after such a long rehab.