There was plenty of trade talk swirling around the Pirates over the weekend as they took two out of three from Detroit in an interleague series at PNC Park. The talk continued Monday, suggesting general manager Neal Huntington might be ready to make another deal less than two weeks after surprising many by shipping All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth to Atlanta.

The heaviest speculation centered on right-hander Ian Snell, who openly questioned manager John Russell’s strategy in a 3-1 loss to the Tigers on Friday night. Snell punched the dugout wall after giving up rookie pitcher Rick Porcello’s second RBI single of the game in the sixth inning.

It was assumed Snell was upset about allowing two run-producing singles to someone who had never batted in a major-league game. Instead, Snell admitted he was angry that Russell had intentionally walked shortstop Ramon Santiago to get to Porcello.

As one Tigers player said the next day after reading Snell’s comments about the intentional walk, “Was he serious? Was he eating psychedelic mushrooms between innings?”

Pirates management constantly preaches accountability and its patience with Snell was already wearing thin because of his penchant for making excuses after losses. He is 1-7 with a 5.25 ERA in 13 starts this season but has at various times blamed the catchers for calling the wrong pitches, the opponent for stealing the catcher’s signs, the umpire for having a tight strike zone and the groundskeepers for not properly maintaining the pitcher’s mound.

His bad pitching is the continuation of a trend that has lasted almost two full seasons. Since the All-Star break in 2007, Snell is 10-26 with a 5.22 ERA in 59 starts.

The Pirates clearly would not be selling high on Snell, who has just under $6 million remaining on the three-year, $8-million contract he signed last year in spring training. However, young starting pitchers with live arms are a scarce enough commodity that the Pirates might get a decent prospect in return.

Colorado is certainly interested in Snell and figures to make a play for him. The Rockies are 10 ½ games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West but their 11-game winning streak has drawn them within 3 ½ games of St. Louis in the NL wild-card standings.

Rockies manager Jim Tracy held the same job with the Pirates when he decided to put Snell into the starting rotation to begin the 2006 season when nearly everyone else in the organization felt he profiled as a reliever because of his small stature.

Texas has also been mentioned as a possibility for Snell. The Rangers, surprise leaders in the American League West, would like to add a starting pitcher after losing right-hander Brandon McCarthy for the season with a stress fracture in his shoulder blade.

Meanwhile, first baseman Adam LaRoche is drawing trade interest from San Francisco. The Giants are 7 ½ games behind the Dodgers in the NL West but lead the wild-card race despite being last in the league in home runs.

Boston inquired about Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson but their interest is described as “cursory” at this point by a source familiar with the talks. The Red Sox have been getting by with journeyman Nick Green at shortstop and first want to see how well shortstop Jed Lowrie returns from wrist surgery next surgery before diving headfirst into the trade market.

Left-hander John Grabow is drawing interest from the Los Angeles Angels, who are 2 ½ games behind Texas in the AL West. The Angels have lost top set-up reliever Scott Shields for the season and also recently sent set-up man Jose Arrendondo to the minor leagues because of ineffectiveness.