R.I.P. to J.V.B.

Wednesday's designation of pitcher John Van Benschoten, along with three other pitchers, off the 40-man roster shouldn't come as a surprise. It is, however, tough to see J.V.B. got, because I don't believe all of the problems he's had in the majors were of his own doing.

Van Benschoten still should have been able to get major league batters out. He just hasn't been able to. He's 28 now and was 1-3 with a 10.48 ERA last season. In 26 major-league appearances, 19 of those starts, he has a 2-13 record and a 9.20 ERA.

There will always be a question of should Van Benschoten have remained a first baseman (and a power-hitting one at that) rather than being converted to a pitcher. For some reason, the Pirates felt Van Benschoten would be better served as a pitcher but it obviously has not worked out for him. He can get Class AAA batters out, and has shown signs of brilliance at Indianapolis, but not in the big leagues.

Van Benschoten has the option to become a minor-league free agent and here's hoping that he chooses to, gets picked up by another organization and gets another shot in the majors.

The other three pitchers - Marino Salas, Yoslan Herrera and Ronald Bellisario - won't be any major loss either.

Herrera was another Dave Littlefield mistake. He's still under contract and will go back to Indianapolis. Salas, who came over in the Salomon Torres deal, and Belisario can also become minor-league free agents. Salas was 1-0 with an 8.47 ERA in 13 games with the Pirates and Belisario, who is 25, was 4-4 with a 4.74 in Class AA Altoona.

The moves cleared four spots on the 40-man, though two of those will be filled when Phil Dumatrait and Tom Gorzelanny come off the 60-day disabled list by the Nov. 20 deadline.

That leaves two spots open. One will be filled by Andrew McCutchen so that he is protected from the Rule 5 draft. There will likely be other openings as third baseman Neil Walker and outfielder Jose Tabata will also be among those protected in this year's Rule 5 draft. Though some players electing fraa agency (i.e. Chris Gomez, Doug Mientkiewicz, etc.) will open up those spots.