Cuts today; fifth starter named?

The bosses gather this afternoon to make another round of cuts. If this goes as it went last week, check back around 2:30pm EST. The moderate, think-2005 course of action would be to make Nolan Ryan Vogelsong the fifth starter, move the Jai Lai player to the bullpen, and send Burnett to AAA.

No need to cut Reed. It's not like he'd catch on with another club, and Pittsburgh must represent his best hope for extended PT this year. (Only the Reds might be calling his agent as I write this, and I'll refrain from making the obvious joke about the influence this news might have on their decision to keep or cut him).

I don't know what they'll do with Castillo and Hill. That's a tough call. The choice is keeping Hill, who can hit but fields like Marcus Giles circa 2001, or throwing Jose Castillo to the wolves, to use Littlefield's metaphor, and risking that they chew him up and damage him into some permanently-impaired state. I guess Hill would be the moderate choice, but Mac's preference for slick-fielding middle infielders gives Castillo an edge. Also, Castillo might be chosen as the wiser choice if developing the pitchers (and preventing runs) is deemed a higher priority than scoring runs. I see Hill - Castillo as a 50-50 chance. I'll guess Castillo just for the sake of guessing.