PITTSBURGH - Maybe Mike Wallace can win a staredown with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Maybe he can beat the 1-in-175,223,310 odds to win the Powerball, too.
The Steelers will open the regular season on Sept. 9 and start making piles of cash again. If Wallace continues his holdout, he'll be living off his savings.
Hard to imagine why Wallace thinks this is a good idea. Wounded pride shouldn't enter into business negotiations.
The Steelers have been here before. In 1988, they let Mike Merriweather sit out an entire season, then traded him. Merriweather lost a year of income in the prime of his career.
Wallace hadn't even been born when the Merriweather scenario unfolded. He probably doesn't know the history. The short version is the Steelers operate in a certain way. Exceptions are not made.
They'd love to have Wallace, but they'll survive without him. It could be that Wallace's holdout will force a trade, but the Steelers could just let him sit, too.
The Steelers have all the money and all the leverage.
Call to arms
If you were screaming, "But they need a bat" after the Pirates acquired Wandy Rodriguez, you have a point.
But they need pitching, too, and will need it beyond this season. Erik Bedard and Kevin Correia are on deals that expire after this season, so there's a need for reliable starting pitcher.
But the bigger issue is 2012, and they need help this year, too. The rotation fell apart late last year with four starters who couldn't finish the season on a regular schedule.
GM Neal Huntington got a reliable and durable left-handed starter while giving up none of the prizes in the minor league system. That makes it a good deal.
A bat would be nice, but will also be significantly more difficult to acquire.
Maybe the market will change in the hours leading up to the deadline, but that doesn't seem likely.
Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com.
