Latest Trade Chatter: Pirates to land one of David DeJesus or Nate Schierholtz?

Less than six hours until the trade deadline and the Pirates have a lot of cards in play. The team continues their pursuit of adding a bat and there seems to be confidence in the organization of getting a deal done today for a bat. The Pirates have also been considering deals for a starter and in the bullpen after losing out on reliever Brian Wilson.

Here’s some latest rumblings:

*Talks between the Pirates and White Sox have not fallen apart for Alex Rios but as of last night there continued to be no movement between the two sides. As expected, money has been a “major” sticking point, according to sources. Things though can change with one phone call.

*There has been some whispers in the past couple days of the Pirates not ruling out making an aggressive play for Mets RF Marlon Byrd in the final hours leading up to the deadline. If the Mets move Byrd, the sense has been it would be right at the deadline and the Mets asking price is enormous, an A-level prospect. The Pirates landing Byrd would be a surprise to many in the industry but they’ve been kicking the tires on Byrd for about a week now.

*The team to watch today is clearly the Chicago Cubs. The Pirates and Cubs have been regarded as ideal trade partners for weeks because of Huntington and Theo Epstein being close friends and having a good working history together.

There’s a sense that the Pirates will land one of Nate Schierholtz or David DeJesus, with the best odds being DeJesus.

The asking price is much higher for Schierholtz who is under team control next season. Schierholtz is hitting .272/.332/.517 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs. He does not hit lefties well, but is batting .283 vs righties. The Pirates have been scouting him heavily for weeks.

DeJesus has also been very much on the Pirates radar. Huntington has been high on DeJesus for years and Pirate scouts have been scouting DeJesus extensively. He’s hitting .268/.327/.452 with 6 home runs and 24 RBIs in 67 games. In eight games since coming off the DL, DeJesus is hitting .321/.387/.500.

*Has fast rising prospect Tyler Glasnow reached untouchable status? Glasnow has been coveted by the White Sox in talks for Rios and the Astros in talks for Bud Norris. The Pirates to this point have said he’s off limits. We’ll see.