Matt

Stairs

''He’s making progress. He’s feeling better every day,’' GM Dave Littlefield said. Stairs will be part of a 4-man rotation with Craig Wilson, Rob Mackowiak, and Adam Hyzdu to replace Brian Giles.

Stairs is on the DL with a torn ligament in his right index finger. It is unclear how much time he’ll spend with Nashville.

“We should know something next week,” Stairs said. “I’m very happy [about the talks]. I love playing in Pittsburgh, and I think the organization is moving in the right direction.” In addition to talking to Stairs, GM Dave Littlefield said that he has held talks or will make calls soon to inquire about the possibility of re-signing Reggie Sanders, Jeff D’Amico, Julian Tavarez, Jeff Reboulet and Jose Hernandez, all of whom are free agents. We’ll assume that the calls to Reboulet’s and Hernandez’s agents are just being made out of courtesy, but these are the Pirates.

The two parties discussed a deal late last month, but they were never close to getting anything done. Although Stairs wouldn’t discuss the numbers, it’s clear that he wants a healthy raise and the Pirates want to pay him little more than the $900,000 he received last season.

Stairs should be back in a day or two.

It appears that the Royals are further along with Stairs than with Benito Santiago or Raul Mondesi, but they’re considered likely to sign all three players.

So much for Calvin Pickering being a sleeper. Of course, it would be much better to block him with Stairs than say J.T. Snow. If Stairs and Mondesi are signed, Stairs would play first base against right-handers, making Ken Harvey a platoon player while everyone else is healthy.

Stairs is 5-for-9 with three walks, a double, and two home runs this week. He had more hits (four) in his first two games back than he did during all of May. He’s still capable of getting hot as a regular, but he’ll have no value when interleague play is done.

Stairs left Sunday’s game with an irritated left Achilles’ tendon, which was caused by a new pair of shoes. He’s been red hot since coming off the DL, but the Pirates will have to work to find him at-bats against National League teams.

Stairs is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville recovering from a torn ligament in his right index finger.