Pirates cut Gerrit Cole, 5 others

The Pirates have cut Gerrit Cole and five other players from major-league camp.

They also cut pitchers Brooks Brown, Kris Johnson, Kyle Waldrop and Phil Irwin, along with catcher Ali Solis.

None of the six players were really expected to make the team, although the cuts of Brown and Johnson clarify the bullpen picture somewhat. Johnson is a lefty -- with Tony Watson still out, Mike Zagurski looks increasingly likely to make the team, and Justin Wilson has a good shot too.

The Cole cut (heh, "Cole cut") will certainly get the most attention, but there really wasn't much chance the Pirates were going to take him north. Even leaving aside service-time considerations, Cole doesn't have much experience at Triple-A, and he probably ought to get at least a handful of starts there before coming up. It doesn't sound like Cole is too thrilled about being sent down, judging from the article linked above, but that's probably what you want.