PITTSBURGH – Saturday is the trade deadline, and unlike years past, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington wields lots of leverage this time.

As I write this, virtually every contender is in the market for relief help of some kind -- do you realize Boone Logan is the only left-handed option in the New York Yankee$ bullpen at the moment? -- and the Pirates are the one-stop shop for relievers. Whether it’s a multi-purpose guy (D.J. Carrasco) or left-handed specialist (Javier Lopez) or closer (Octavio Dotel), they have an established one available. Six teams are known to have inquired about one or more of them this month. And I bet at least another half-dozen will sniff around this week if they haven’t already.

The front office can deal from strength here. In Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan, the eighth and ninth innings figure to be in good hands for awhile. More than one person in the organization is convinced that either Wil Ledezma or Justin Thomas can fill the left-hander role capably.

Better yet, team management has contractual control over Carrasco, Dotel and Lopez next season. Because there’s no pointed gun, it can pick and choose among the offers. Otherwise, any or all of the three can be shopped this winter.

What’s more, Carrasco, Dotel and Lopez are affordable, which only enhances their value. As Huntington said the other day, “Money seems to be very tight within the industry.”

It’s unlikely that Huntington will pull off a blockbuster trade before the deadline, but I expect him to complete at least one fairly significant deal. In that case, there’s a good chance that the Pirates will a better team on Sunday than they are today.