Pirates Make Second Batch of Cuts

On Monday, the Pirates sent Pedro Alvarez, and seven others, to their minor league camp. Alvarez, of course, had no chance to make the team out of Spring Training this year, but I have to admit I would have loved to see him play a little more before being sent down. Alvarez was optioned, along with pitcher Ron Uviedo, to Class-A Lynchburg. I expect Alvarez to spend a couple of months there before being called up to AA-Altoona, maybe around early June, to finish the season. I doubt we'll see him in Pittsburgh this year.

Optioned to Altoona were pitcher Jeff Sues and catcher Steve Lerud. Jimmy Barthmeier was optioned to AAA-Indianapolis. The other 3 players sent down, pitchers Juan Mateo and Daniel McCutchen and second baseman Shelby Ford, are not on the 40 man roster, so they were just reassigned to the minor league camp. Barthmeier and McCutchen were long-shot contenders for the starting rotation for the big league club. I don't see Barthmeier ever being more than a depth guy in the organization, but McCutchen is pretty well thought of and he may end up being a fixture in the rotation before long.

45 players remain in camp.