Danny Moskos was sent down to Triple-A today. That confirms that Tony Watson will be the only lefty out of the bullpen, which is what we’ve sort of been figuring made the most sense all along. That leaves 28 players in camp, including Juan Cruz. With AJ Burnett and Charlie Morton destined for the DL, that leaves 26. That means the Pirates still have to take someone off of the 40-man roster to make room for Cruz, and that they have to pare someone off of the roster between Chris Leroux, Evan Meek, Jared Hughes, and Matt Hague.
Leroux is out of options and talented enough to make the team, so he’s a no-brainer despite a bad spring performance. As I’ve said before, it makes plenty of sense for Hague to make the club with Pedro’s struggles early this spring and Garrett Jones’ need for a platoon partner. That leaves one spot for Meek and Hughes. Most other people seem to be assuming that Meek will make the club, so maybe I’m just projecting my own fear that Meek isn’t completely ready yet and that Hughes is going to be a lights-out reliever by even thinking that there’s a chance Meek won’t get a bullpen spot. If it were up to me, though, I’d take Hughes to Pittsburgh and leave Meek in Triple-A to build up some arm strength before putting him into Major League games.
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