Catching up after being away for a few days...

On Saturday, the Pirates sent four pitchers to minor league camp:
RHP Bryan Morris and RHP Kyle McPherson, both on the 40-man roster, were optioned down, with Morris going to AAA Indianapolis and McPherson going to A+ Bradenton.   
Two lefties, Rudy Owens and Justin Wilson, were also sent to the minor league camp, and though their exact level is still not official, both should begin the season with the Indy Indians.  

More moves were made today:
From the 40-man roster--
LHP Jeff Locke, LHP Aaron Thompson, and RHP Ramon Aguero were optioned to AA Altoona 
LHP Daniel Moskos and LHP Tony Watson were optioned to Indianapolis
Outfielders Gorkys Hernandez and Alex Presley were optioned to Indianapolis
Moskos and Presley both spent part of 2010 with Indianapolis, while Watson and Hernandez will make their debut at the AAA level.  Locke, Aguero, and Thompson all spent part of 2010 with Altoona.

Not on the 40-man yet --
Infielders Chase d'Arnaud and Brian Friday and outfielder Andrew Lambo were reassigned to minor league camp.  Friday played in Indianapolis for most of 2010 and should return there.  D'Arnaud and Lambo were in Altoona for 2010;  Lambo is ready for AAA, though d'Arnaud may be asked to go back to Altoona for part of 2011.  

Continuing to look at the middle infielders in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Jarek Cunningham --  R/R,  6' 1",  185 lb
Cunningham was the Pirates' 18th round pick in the 2008 draft.  After a solid debut with the GCL Pirates (.318 average with 5 homers and 22 RBI), he missed the entire 2009 season due to knee surgery.  He returned with a healthy knee in 2010, assigned to West Virginia.  Cunningham jumped right out to a good start, hitting .304 in April, with a homer and 5 RBI.  He slumped in May to just .194, with 2 more homers and 5 RBI.   Then he popped up again in June, with a .317 average, 3 homers, and a big 17 RBI.  The average slipped a little in July, to .279, though the power production continued, with 4 homers and 14 RBI.  The slip continued into August, as he dropped to .214 with 2 homers and 6 RBI.  He finished the season with a .258 average, and not much left-right difference (.265 against lefties and .256 against righties).  He had 37 doubles, 7 triples, 12 homers, and 49 RBI.  He struck out a lot -- 132 times in 121 games (27%), and that rate was highest in July and August.  He walked just 30 times (5.6%), and that was best in June and July.  Cunningham played entirely at second base during the 2010 season (2008 was split between shortstop and third).  Now that there is less concern about his knee, and with his good range and arm, he could spend time at shortstop too.  The 21-year-old should be ready for A+ Bradenton for 2011.  He'll need to work on plate discipline and cutting back on the strikeouts.  

Benji Gonzalez  --  R/R,  5' 11",  160 lb
Gonzalez was picked in the 7th round of the 2008 draft, coming out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy.  After two seasons in the GCL, Gonzalez was promoted to West Virginia for the 2010 season.  He had hit a solid .286 in the GCL in 2009, but that did not carry over to 2010 with the Power.  He hit .196 in the first half of the season, then he improved to .279 for the second half, for a .236 average overall.  Gonzalez has limited power, with just 12 doubles, one triple, one homer, and 35 RBI in 2010.  He stole 18 bases, but was also thrown out 14 times, so that needs some improvement.  Gonzalez was the main shortstop for West Virginia in 2010, and showed strong defensive play with good range and a strong arm.  He'll need to work on cutting back on the errors (32) of course.  After the regular season, Gonzalez went back to Puerto Rico and played in 19 games for the Puerto Rican Winter League's Gigantes de Carolina.  He did not hit well there either, just .184 with 2 doubles.   Despite the low hitting, Gonzalez will likely be assigned to A+ Bradenton for 2011, where his hitting will need to improve.

Continuing to look at the middle infielders in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Kelson Brown  --  R/R,  6' 3",  170 lb
Brown was the Pirates' 34th round draft pick in 2010, coming off some surprising success as a senior at Linfield College (.443 average, 9 homers).  Brown reported to State College, where he was a little "old" for the level.  He jumped out to a big start, hitting .348 with 6 RBI in June.  That dropped to .247 in July, though his RBI bumped up to 12.  He settled out to .298 with 7 RBI in August.  The overall average for the season was .293, with 12 doubles  and 26 RBI.  Despite being listed as a shortstop, Brown played most of his games (40) at third base, where he did well -- just 3 errors.  He also played 11 games at second base and 3 at short.  He's said to have a strong arm, and that's probably why he played so much at third.  the 23-year-old Brown should be moved up to West Virginia for 2011.  It will be interesting to see if his hitting continues.

Drew Maggi  -- R/R,  6' 0",  175 lb
Maggi was chosen in the 15th round of the 2010 draft.  He signed late, so did not get to State College until August, and got into only 18 games for the Spikes.  All of those games were played at shortstop, where Maggi made 8 errors.  He struggled at the plate, too, hitting just .156, with 3 doubles and 2 RBI.  He struck out 15 times in 18 games (23.4%), though he also walked 8 times (11.8%).  He stole 5 bases, and has good speed.  The tough start to his pro career could be just a fluke, or just getting used to the pro life (and wooden bats) and a layoff after finishing the college season.  The Pirates think highly of him, and it's likely that he'll be promoted to West Virginia anyway.  Maggi will turn 22 years old in May.