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This is the time of year when all major-league clubs are trying to define themselves as buyers or sellers. Are they in or are they out? Scouts are crisscrossing the country trying to compare one player with another so general managers can make the best deals to help their clubs down the stretch. It is an active and exciting time in front offices, whether you're a buyer or a seller.

This is also the time of year when teams can look for the diamond in the rough, a hidden jewel. There are players around the game who have had flashes of success in the major leagues only to struggle and be sent to the minors or get demoted to the bullpen. And, in some circumstances, one team might find that it likes another team's player more than that player's team likes him (this rings true with pitchers more than position players).

In 1998, when I was the Mets' GM, we acquired left-hander Glendon Rusch from Kansas City in a September trade for minor-league pitcher Dan Murray. Rusch had a little major-league service at the time and had struggled, but we thought with a couple of minor adjustments and some confidence he could be a serviceable pitcher. Rusch ended up being an important piece in our run to the 2000 World Series.

Cubs GM Jim Hendry used this plan in acquiring Jerome Williams from the Giants in the LaTroy Hawkins deal. Hawkins had shown himself to be a pretty good young pitcher before succumbing to bone spurs and surgery. Then he had a setback this spring, when he missed a fair amount of training camp while tending to his ailing father.

Williams was out of shape and not nearly the same pitcher, or so it seemed. But baseball people believe that if you've seen talent once, then it's there -- and it's up to the organization to pull out that talent. Williams is now in the Cubs' rotation.

A number of pitchers this year could blossom into quality big leaguers. These hurlers might not be the solution for a playoff contender this year, but they are interesting projects to help next year and beyond. Here is a list for consideration:

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