Roster moves

The Pirates sent a bunch of people down to the minor league camp today, the players of note being Brad Eldred, Yurie DeCaster, Sean Burnett, Tom Gorzellany, and Rajai Davis. Eldred and Davis didn't have much of a chance to make the team out of camp, so there's no surprise there, DeCaster probably cost himself a shot at the utility role in the bigs by playing in the WBC so his being sent down reaffirms the fact that Jose Hernandez will take over the backup utility role, and Burnett and Gorzellany being sent down just means that the team thinks they both need a little seasoning in AAA (or rust removal in Burnett's case), which I think makes sense. DL says that all of those guys named above will contribute to the team this year, and I'd have to think there's a lot of truth to that statement.

Also today, Tracy unveiled the top of the rotation. He'll lead off with Ollie in LA (so much for him being the 5th starter, sheesh), followed by Duke, Snell, and Maholm. He says its to keep the pressure off of Duke, but it also puts Duke in line to start the Home Opener the next Monday at PNC, which is arguably a more pressure filled start. Tracy naming Snell at #3 means that there really is only one spot left, and it's probably a battle between Santos and Duckworth for the 5th starter and the loser of that battle challenging Vogelsong for the last spot in the pen. It's also still possible that the fifth slot in the rotation will be filled by an as yet unnamed person currently wearing colors other than black and gold, as the ESPN rumor mill reports that five clubs have contacted DL about CWilson and Craig himself is finally starting to show some cracks after being yanked around by his chain for the better part of 5+ year career here.

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