So let the speculation begin. We have been hearing for weeks now that the Pittsburgh Pirates were trying to move Jon Niese. In fact, at his last start many scouts from teams around the league were in attendance. The Pittsburgh Pirates front office called these teams and asked them to come out and gauge their interest. This is all part of trying to sell a player. However, it became interesting when Jeff Locke came out of the bullpen.
When Locke was warming up, the Pirates play-by-play announcer said he was available due to the all-star break. Which, obviously that makes sense.