On second thought ...

Maybe the trade the Pirates made with the Yanks wasn't so bad, after all.

Pitcher Jeff Karstens has done his part: 15 scoreless innings in two starts against two good teams (the Cubs and Diamondbacks), including yesterday's near-perfect gem. He pitched a perfect game -- no hits, no walks -- until Arizona outfielder Chris Young doubled with two out in the eighth inning.

Karstens recovered to finish with a complete-game shutout, the Pirates' first of the year. Karstens was so good, nobody in the over-worked bullpen even had to warm up.

Karstens even had a couple hits and scored the team's second run, in the top of the eighth. The Bucs' announcers lamented that had he not done that, third baseman Chris Gomez would likely have been better positioned, deeper and closer to the third-base line, to field Young's line drive that went past him for a double. Gomez likely would have been positioned nearer third base to protect the line and a one-run lead.

Although the D-Backs hit the ball hard a number of times, including several long drives to the outfield wall, outfielder Jason Michaels and the other fielders caught everything until Young's double in the bottom of the eighth. Several D-Backs players said their scouting reports on Karstens' had them expecting lots of change-ups. Instead, he threw lots of fastballs, especially early in the count. And, apparently, his fastballs were plenty fast enough, and he maintained good velocity all the way through the game, along with good control and command of the strike zone.

Yeah, maybe this Karstens guy will work out. Imagine that. Good starting pitching ... just what the Pirates need, too, and it's about time.

Now, if pitchers Ross Ohlendorf (who pitched well recently for Altoona) and Dan McCutchen are promoted and pitch well, and if highly touted outfield prospect Jose Tabata (who had two home runs in a Gulf Coast League game the other day during an injury rehab start), progress, I will happily take back everything I said about the Bucs-Yanks trade being a bad deal for the Pirates.

Granted, they lost offensive production with the departures of Jason Bay and Xavier Nady. Their replacements yesterday, Brandon Moss and Steve Pearce, combined to strike out seven times. Ouch. But you can overcome that when your starting pitcher throws a complete game shutout and near-perfect game.

Maybe general manager Neil Huntington knows what he's doing, after all.