PPG:  Kovacevic:  Mientkiewicz giving Pirates “the final say”

Reason #1 why Minky is great:

“It’s a typical Mientkiewicz offseason. I’m everybody’s B and C plan,” he said. “If they two guys they want to sign get hit by a truck, then they think about me.”

Reason #2 why Minky is great:

(talking about complications stemming from his wife’s heart sugery)

“She told me I caused heart to fail because she had to watch me playing third base.”

Reason #3 why Minky is great:

(Third base)was where Mientkiewicz, playing a position mostly foreign to him, committed all seven of his errors in 2008.

With the team shopping the elder LaRoche, Bautista already gone, the jury still out on the younger LaRoche, the general consensus being that Walker is not ready for MLB, and Pedro Alvarez expectedly waiting in the wings, why not Minky?