BleacherCoaches.com

If the Pirates deal Benson, who will replace him in the rotation. It is unlikely, with the Pirates looking for an every day third baseman, that they will get a Major League ready pitcher to take his place. So will they put Vogelsong back in the rotation or will they try out Torres once again this year? Or might they go the way of Brian Meadows?

Why not bring up a new face. Some young kid. Its expierence, and it can only be good in finding out who will step up and get better, or who will crumble.

I'm not sure that they have anyone in the minor league system who is ready to be brought up at this point.

i think the big question here is should the pirates trade benson. he is pitching great, finally and hasnt shown any signs that this is a fluke occurance. i was very sure i wanted the bucs to trade him 3 weeks ago. now, im not so sure. if other teams dont give them a standout prospect at one of their weak postions(3b, 1b, of), i say hold on to him as long as possible. the pirates have a decent shot at breaking .500 w/ benson this season, and could sign him for a few more years if his value hasnt ballooned too much. i do have a feeling tho that once july 30th comes around, some desperate team (phillies, boston, minnesota) will give in to temptation.

The only way not trading would be a good move is if Benson is so loyal that he will take less money to not leave. He is the only Pirate who lives in Pittsburgh in the off season, but I think he would still leave. If they don't trade Benson, they will likely lose him after the season and not have gotten anything in return for him. We are most likely looking at not having him next year and no trade means no good Bay/Perez type pick-ups.

Here we have our answer...

The Benson trade was inevitable and as could be suspected, the Buccos got a thirdbaseman and a pitching prospect out of the deal (and another 3Bmen) and not a major league ready pitcher. So Ryan Vogelsong stepped back into the line-up. After coming from the bullpen, he was on a limited pitch count, allowing him to go only 5 innings. But he did tremendous work in those 5 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 4 K's and the win. Who knows if that is a sign of things to come for him or if he will still struggle. But let's hope that he gets back to his dominating ways of spring training.