As you all know by now, the Pirates designated Brandon Moss for assignment yesterday, making way for two former Marlins--John Raynor, who takes Moss's spot on the bench, and Hayden Penn, who takes Moss' spot on the 40-man roster. Hopefully Moss will clear waivers; I know nobody here really likes him, and I don't really either, but I do think he still has some chance of being helpful, even if that's just in a bench role.
Leaving aside the issue of who Moss was traded for and whether the Pirates got good value, acquiring Moss and starting him was a noble experiment. When he was acquired, most people thought he'd be a fourth outfielder. But there was at least an outside shot that, with a broad base of skills that included some contact ability, some home run power, walks, and defense, he'd get better at one or two of those things and emerge as, say, Nate McLouth without the stolen bases. PECOTA loved him, comparing him to guys like Curtis Granderson, Paul O'Neill, Graig Nettles and Carlos Pena. That was all pretty optimistic, but I don't think the Pirates were wrong to have seen upside there. It didn't work out, but that doesn't mean the Pirates were wrong to make Moss their starting right fielder last year.
There are 28 players left in camp. Of those, one of the cuts will almost certainly be either Erik Kratz or Jason Jaramillo, since the Pirates obviously have no need for two backup catchers. Ramon Vazquez will probably be another. The third will probably be Steve Pearce, unless for some reason the Pirates send Raynor back to Florida. I'd hoped that the Bucs would go with an 11-man pitching staff for a while. Penn is out of options and has to make the team, though, and the other eleven pitchers (Zach Duke, Paul Maholm, Charlie Morton, Ross Ohlendorf and Daniel McCutchen in the rotation; Octavio Dotel, Evan Meek, Brendan Donnelly, Javier Lopez, D.J. Carrasco and Jack Taschner in the 'pen) appear to be set, so that seems unlikely.