Steve Pearce, who currently leads all minor leaguers in homers, has been promoted to Altoona. Finally. Also, Pat noticed this comment in Dejan Kovacevic's recent chat:
Dejan Kovacevic: I get the idea that the Pirates would like to groom a utilityman from within, and they feel that Kelly could be that guy for a long time. What might be the better question is why he is taking so many significant at-bats. You look at his ABs and place them against, Nate McLouth's, and they seem a little too close for comfort.
Like Pat, I think this is pretty ridiculous, since even a team with the Pirates' self-imposed budget can afford a utility infielder. And if your goal is to groom a guy from within, what would you want with a 27-year-old who was developed in another organization and completely failed to progress there? If they want to "groom" their own utilityman, maybe they should consider Brian Bixler, who probably isn't going to hit enough to be a regular.