Peter Diana, Post-Gazette GM Littlefield's sharp puzzle-making abilities put to use early, often. Click photo for larger image. More Pirates News: Pirates Notebook: Snell starts a buzz with no-hitter Scouting Report: Chicago Cubs Minor-League Report: 5/17/05

Every so often, the Pirates get a day off, as they did yesterday.

The same can't be said for general manager Dave Littlefield, though.

Even when the players don't work, he does.

As he did yesterday, seeking more ways to help his team maintain its current surge.

Or reading medical reports on players as close as Altoona or as far away as the Dominican Republic.

Or reviewing daily game reports from each of the Pirates' four full-season minor-league teams.

Or maybe going to evaluate one of as many as eight amateur players the Pirates have targeted as a possible first-round pick in next month's draft.

Of, if nothing else, Littlefield played more of the "What if" game.

There's never an off-day in that game. And success playing it can go a long way toward determining how successful the Pirates will be. Not only for the rest of this season, but for next season and the season thereafter.

"You always have in mind the fact that you've got to play the 'What if' game -- and 'What if' on the negative side," Littlefield said. "On the positive side, it's very easy to deal with.

"When Dave Williams goes out and throws good the first month or so of the season, that's a good thing."

But if, say, Williams hadn't thrown well in his first seven starts, then Littlefield would have had to have found an answer in the "What if" game. One he certainly would have answered.

"Those types of things are ever-evolving," Littlefield said. "It never comes off the top of your head in regards to the protection that's necessary for particularly key positions -- with catching, shortstop, center field and starting pitching. Those are the harder to find players.

	Today's Game Game: Cubs (Mark Prior, 3-1) at Pirates (Josh Fogg, 3-2), 7:05 p.m. TV/Radio: FSN Pittsburgh/KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.

"Whether it's putting the [40-man] roster together in November or whether it's signing [nonroster] invitees [to spring training], you've always got that in mind."

And it's not just those "harder to find" players.

"You have 'What if' in all categories," Littlefield said. "You also have to look at what the options are at third base. At first base. How close are the minor-leaguers [to the big leagues]? How good do the nonroster invitees look? How good is the [major-league] roster?

"Is Ian Snell ready as a candidate as a starter? Is he a candidate as a reliever? Is [Zach] Duke a little further advanced than we thought? [Chris] Duffy -- what kind of option does he give us?"

Maybe there's a trade that can be made, as there was last week when Littlefield acquired outfielder Michael Restovich from Colorado because Craig Wilson will be out until July after finger surgery.

"You're a general manager and you've got to be prepared for these things," he said. "We're not in a position where we [can] have too many players. Someone's going to get hurt."

Think back to late spring training when Humberto Cota, who was to get at least half the starts at catcher, had an oblique strain. He would not be ready by opening day.

The Pirates could have put rookie catcher Ryan Doumit on the opening-day roster, but they want him to play virtually every day at Indianapolis.

So Littlefield had to find another catcher. Because he and his staff had played the "What if" game, they knew that among the several viable scenarios David Ross could be had from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Seemingly overnight but really after weeks of "What if" playing, Ross became a Pirate.

"You always have to be prepared for what could happen," Littlefield said. "It's easy to think everything's going good and there's no worries, but every general manager will tell you that's not the case."

A foul tip can injure a catcher in an instant. A second baseman can be lost for two months because he stood his ground while a baserunner crashed into him trying to break up a double play. An outfielder can hit a wall trying to catch a long drive.

Or a starting pitcher can be lost for the season when a line drive strikes his knee.

As could have happened with Mark Redman in Milwaukee April 12.

"If you're not prepared, then it's crisis management," Littlefield said. "What do you do then?"

On that night, Littlefield first hoped Redman would be OK. That thought process lasted perhaps five seconds.

Then it was time to get on with the worst-case scenario handling. The worst-case would be that Redman would need season-ending surgery.

Littlefield called Brian Graham, the Pirates' minor-league director.

"Hey, listen, we have an injury here with Redman," Littlefield said. "I don't know how bad it is, but just get your ducks in a row because in an hour, once we've taken a look at it medically, we may have a DL [situation] for an extended period of time."

Graham, in turn, began consulting the minor-league managers, chiefly Indianapolis manager Trent Jewett, from whose team help most probably would come.

Turned out, no help was needed. Redman almost miraculously was fine.

But Littlefield would have been ready to act -- whether the answer would have been pulling Ryan Vogelsong out of the bullpen or bringing up Ian Snell or Zach Duke from Indianapolis.

"The bottom line is, this is my job and my responsibility," Littlefield said. "And as someone who takes it very seriously and is very committed to it, you want to be as well prepared as possible for anything."

Cota going down. Jose Castillo going down. Benito Santiago going down -- and then out. Craig Wilson going down. Oliver Perez struggling.

Anything.

"Since coming out of spring training, there have been some thunderbolts," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I think Dave has done a tremendous job of trying to manage this roster and giving me the best players he can possibly give me under the circumstances.

"How we dealt with the roster and who we called up, all those things are very difficult to manage. You have to think about the character of the club, the makeup of the club, the attitude of the club when you call up players.

"Dave has done a fine job trying to find pieces to fit to keep things moving in the right direction."

That makes one realize there's yet another category in the "What if" game, as in "What if" Littlefield hadn't done a good job?