McCutchen Sent Down

Today the Pirates reassigned outfielder Andrew McCutchen and infielder Brian Bixler to the minor league camp. Though he performed superbly, and is destined to lead the Pirates to the promised land, it is not a surprise that McCutchen was sent down. The club has stated that they want him to work on some other facets of his game, and if they wait a couple of months to bring him up, that pushes back his free agency eligibility. But, fear not, Andrew McCutchen will be in Pittsburgh this year.

The Bixler move actually surprised me a bit. With Andy Phillips missing most of the Spring with a back ailment, it seemed to come down to Bixler and Luis Cruz for the second infield bench spot. Though this does seem to signify that Cruz gets that spot, the Neal Huntington quote from the PBC Blog tells us it's not firm yet. Bixler certainly outplayed Cruz this Spring, hitting .352 with 3 steals in 54 at bats to Cruz's .205 in 39 at bats. They have both been primarily shortstops throughout their minor league careers. Comparing their career stats, the only notable differences are that Bixler steals a lot more bases but Cruz is a better contact hitter. Anyway, this all could be moot, as the Pirates might just be paving the way for Colorado's Jeff Baker to be had in a trade.

Also, there's a piece at the Post-Gazette on Freddy Sanchez, and how he wants to stay in Pittsburgh too. I'm a big Freddy fan, so I'm all for this.

And for those of us who like reading about prospects that are years away, there was a story on Gift Ngoepe on the official site. Ngoepe, whom the Pirates signed last October, hopes to become the first South African to play in the majors. And he recently played for South Africa in the World Baseball Classic.