CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Many moons ago, Bob Walk shared with me a theorem that there's no such thing as a spring surprise. That the Pirates' management types would always arrive in Florida with a firm feel for exactly which 25 players will find their way north. That the script would be followed no matter the served-up storyline, no matter the stats.
If, for example, the fifth starter was supposed to be Josh Fogg, it'd be Fogg and, along the way, poor Sean Lowe was just dragged along through the closing credits.