Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Possible Rule V Pirates?


The Pirates have the second selection in the Rule V Draft and seem to be set to use it.
The Yankees have the first pick in the draft having obtained it from Washington in exchange for Brian Bruney earlier in the winter meetings.

The Pirates have used their pick in the draft on both of the previous occasions under Neal Huntington selecting Evan Meek and Donald Veal and both were able to stay with the team for the season,Meek through a deal with Tampa and Veal on the roster all season.

There are quite a few players in the draft that I would think are worth a shot for the Buccos.

Atlanta has two pitchers available of interest in lefty Edgar Osuna and righthander Cole Rohrbough.
Osuna would be the safer selection,but Rohrbough has top of the rotation stuff despite some pedestrian numbers and despite the effort to keep him around has the potential to make it worth the Pirates while.
EDITOR'S NOTE:Rohrbough is ineligible for the draft.
He was in the last class of the now defunct "Draft and Follow" rule and I missed that when looking at rosters.
My error

George Kontos of the Yankees almost became a Pirate in the Xavier Nady trade and would be a worth a shot.Kontos has underwent Tommy John surgery and a cursory look might think that would be a liability,but the surgery would enable the Bucs to place him on the disabled list and would actually make it easier to keep him.
Yohan Pino of Cleveland seems to be the most likely to help the Pirates right away,but he will be 26 before the season and does not have the upside of the other pitchers mentioned.

I wish that I really liked a middle infielder in the draft,but that seems to be the weakest spot and unlikely to be a selection.
However,three players have caught my eye position wise and any of the three would be a nice player for Pittsburgh.
Cleveland's Matt McBride reestablished himself as a prospect with a solid year split between Kinston and Akron and followed that with a .378,4 homers stint in the Arizona league.
McBride can catch,play first and a corner outfield as well.
Sounds kinda like Ryan Doumit,who the Pirates are shopping around...
Yankee outfielder Colin Curtis showed surprising power in the AFL and looks like he is just rolling into developing into a prospect.
John Raynor of the Marlins struggled at AAA after a terrific AA season in 2008.
Raynor steals bases and has fair power,but last seasons issues makes me wonder,but still would be worth a pick....

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