Where will the Pirates improve at the deadline offensively

     It's no surprise that the Pirates are looking to upgrade the offense. The offense shows up in bunches it seems. It's frustrating to deal with an offense that inconsistent. That being said, the Pirates do need to make a trade to upgrade.

     We must start with the weakest hitting spots in the lineup. There are three that stand out, and those would be RF, SS, and 1B. 

     First off, in RF, Polanco hasn't been able to build on his success from last year. However, he has shown signs of life the last 10-12 games or so that could make the Pirates confident to stick with him instead of sending him back to AAA. Getting a platoon right fielder to hit lefties wouldn't be the worst thing to help Polanco just focus on hitting against righties for now. Take it one step at a time. 

     SS has been an obvious offensive problem for the last handful of years. It has been that way since Jack Wilson departed. Mercer is solid defensively, though, and I can take his lack of offense for that mostly great defense. Most teams have a guy like that. Plus, Kang can fill in some at SS once Harrison gets back.

     1B is another place where there could be an upgrade made. Also, I think this is the most replaceable spot in the lineup. If a deal is made to help, it could be to replace Alvarez. Huntington isn't scared to replace Alvarez. He's done it twice. In 2011 when he demoted him and last year of course when Harrison replaced him. I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen again.

     The bench has been another problem. Making a move to replace a current starter would send them to the bench which would help. Also, Harrison getting back in September will push Kang back to the bench. That would make an instant improvement. Ishikawa has had some good ABs since coming back, and Decker just got called back up which should help. So, the bench is slowly improving.

     No matter what happens, Huntington has to dig into his countless amounts of talent in the minor leagues to help the major league team. They can't afford not to with how good the Cardinals are, especially since the Cardinals will probably make a trade or two as well. Pirates can't afford to get too far behind. It hurt them last year in missing out on a division title and losing the crapshoot that is the wildcard game.