I guess well all knew when he struck out 18 times in 25 ABs earlier this year that the end was near. His solid last month in Indy obviously gave the FO a glimmer of hope, but this obviously is it. I can’t imagine he is in Bradenton in the spring.

Bixler was bad, but let’s be fair! At least he did manage to OPS+ 65 in 35 PA this year thanks to 5 of his 7 hits being doubles. Don Kelly managed a 17 OPS+ in 32 PA that year and Mike Benjamin a 2 in 130 PA! An OPS+ of 2?? In 130 plate appearances???

I will definitely agree that Bixler’s “deer in the headlights” rating beats the hell out of either Kelly or Benjamin, though.

the Walker-LaRoche comparison by the player from the PCL (likely Myrow or Bozied) quite enlightning.

Brian Bixler and Steve Pearce: two guys that should’ve been out of Pittsburgh a long time ago!! WHY ARE THEY STILL WITH THE PIRATES, especially Bixler?

Awful, just awful!

I decided to pull up Nate McClouth’s career stats and try to find something comparable.
In McClouth’s 1st year with the bucs(2005)
He had a .257 avg .305 OBP .450 Slugging .755 OPS in 109 AB with 5 HR

Pearce so far with 108 At bats
He has a .241 avg .317 OBP .417 Sluggin .733 OPS in 108 AB with 3 HR

If you assume he makes a better jump next year like Nate did, then he might not seem so bad.

Now, i understand we got possibly Clement coming up too, but lately I’ve been wondering what a full season would do for Pearce and lately he seems like he’s becoming more comfortable at the plate. I mean he’s been getting a hit most every game. Then sits the next game. I’d would like to see Pearce be in the line-up consistently.

Unless Clement just bashes the ball when he comes up and fields cleanly then i could see a challenge for Pearce for next year, but if Clement can’t field 1B as alot of readers here say he can’t. Then I think Pearce will be our 1B next year with possibly a veteran signing to help spell him if he struggles. I see Garret Jones taking the RF job right now next year with Moss being a Bench player. Tabata will have to prove he belongs on the team next year in ST. If not, then GJ has it for a while with Moss spelling him or Milledge at times.

dejan says to expect walker to be called up very soon. when this does happen people are going to go crazy on this site.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09243/994420-63.stm?cmpid=pirates.xml

will forever be from the home opener last year, bottom nine, tie game, Bix at third, Bautista dropping an excellent squeeze bunt and getting thrown out and then hopping with anger when he saw Bix still rooted to third base.

I feel badly for Brian Bixler. Obviously, he presses when he gets to the ML level keeping his talent from surfacing. This gives naysayers and those who thrive when someone is down a chance to demean him. With the opportunities the Pirates have given him, it is unlikely that he will be given another chance. Perhaps a change of organizations would benefit this young man.

I was also a fan of Mike Benjamin and was surprised that his name was brought up in a negative way. Guess this is the blog that looks for the worst in people.

Benjamin had a weak showing for the Pirates in 2002, but I prefer to remember Mike from his 2000 season in Pittsburgh. Never advertised as an offensive threat, Benjamin hit .270 for the Pirates. A career .980 fielder (28 errors in 1391 chances) Benjamin made one error at shortstop in 266 chances in 2000. The facts show that Mike played more third base that year (62 games) than shortstop (15 games). He appeared in 11 games at second base and one in right field. He was the versitile type of player that teams wanted and he had a good career playing to his strengths.

How difficult it is even for talented players to make a spash in the big leagues and how easy it is to bad-mouth and write off players who put out the effort and fall short on results. Its a good thing that we ourselves are not scrutenized and judged by those same standards. Some of our careers would certainly be shortened.

Good luck to Brian Bixler. I hope that he knows that he is not the worst player to wear the Pirate uniform this year. If he can relax some and let his ability come to the forefront, he’ll be just fine. Even Donnie Kelly ended up in a better place (first place with the Tigers!).

I never in a million years would have imagined myself reading a defense of Mike Benjamin.