Monthly Archives: December, 2010

After the major league part of the 2010 Rule 5 Draft, in which the Pirates chose SS Josh Rodriguez from the Cleveland Indians, the draft moved on to the minor league section.

In the AAA part, the Pirates chose OF Brad Chalk from the Padres.  Chalk, who will turn 25 in January, was drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 2007 amateur draft.  He played at A level Fort Wayne in 2008, and hit .275 with 43 RBI.  He moved up to A+ Lake Elsinore in 2009, where he hit .301, with 2 home runs and 63 RBI. The South Carolina native split the 2010 season between Lake Elsinore, AA San Antonio, and AAA Portland.  About half of his season was at the AA level, where he hit .214 with 15 RBI in 65 games.  At AAA Portland, Chalk hit .313 with 5 RBI in 27 games, but in late June, he was sent to AA, and then in early August, he was moved down to A+.  Not clear what was going on there.  Not a lot of power in his swing, but at least at the AAA level, he was getting on base often.  

C Travis Scott was chosen from the Angels in the next round of the AAA part of the draft.  This Milwaukee native was drafted out of college in Illinois by the Mariners in the 20th round of the 2005 draft.  He moved slowly up through the Mariners' organization, reaching as high as AA West Tennessee for 4 games in 2010.  Scott began the 2010 season with A+ High Desert, where he hit .269 with 5 homers and 22 RBI, then was moved to West Tennesee at the end of May.  But after just those 4 games, he was released.  Scott played for Rockford in the independent Northern League for 65 games, where he hit .300, with 5 homers and 29 RBI.  He must have been picked up by the Angels at some point, but did not get to play in their organization before being selected in this draft.  

Because Chalk and Scott were chosen in the minor league portion of the draft, they do not have the same requirement to stick with the big league club for the season.  The Pirates can assign them where ever they see fit.  

Also joining the Pirates' organization today is starting pitcher Cesar Valdez.  Valdez is the player-to-be-named in the trade that sent Zach Duke to the Diamondbacks.  Valdez is a Dominican native, who made 18 starts (plus 2 relief appearances) for AAA Reno in the D'backs' organization in 2010.  He earned a 6-10 record with a 5.90 ERA.  In 97.2 innings, he allowed 110 hits and 64 runs, with 49 walks and 92 strikeouts.  Valdez also pitched for Reno in 2009, with slightly better results:  a 7-6 record and a 4.78 ERA in 96 innings, with 103 hits, 51 runs, and 30 walks.  He had only 30 strikeouts that season.  Valdez has been playing in his native Venezuela this winter, making 7 starts and one relief appearance for Los Toros del Licey.  He has a 3-1 record with a 4.14 ERA.  In 37 innings, he has allowed 36 hits and 10 walks, with 21 strikeouts.  Valdez is not automatically added to the 40-man roster, though it's likely he'll be invited to big league camp for spring training and be given a shot to make the major league team.

The Pirates are plus-one-minus-one in the major league portion of the 2010 Rule 5 Draft.
With the first pick of the draft, the Pirates took SS Josh Rodriguez from the Cleveland Indians.  The Houston native was Cleveland's second round pick in the 2006 draft, coming out of Rice University.  He moved up through their organization, spending all of 2008 and 2009 with AA Akron, though he appeared in only 33 games in 2009 --probably due to injury.  He hit .241 in 2008, with 7 homers and 49 RBI.  He was hitting better in 2009, with a .295 average and 12 RBI in those 33 games.  Rodriguez split the 2010 season between AA Akron, where he hit .317, and AAA Columbus.  In 86 games for the Clippers, after being promoted in late May, Rodriguez hit .293, with 23 doubles, 12 homers, and 46 RBI, and was a key player for the Clippers as they won the International League championship.  He had a particularly good June, hitting .380 with 5 homers and 15 RBI in 20 games.  His filding is not the best it could be -- something to work on.  As a Rule 5 draftee, Rodriguez will have to remain with the major league team in Pittsburgh, or else be returned (or at least offered back) to Cleveland.  Rodriguez will turn 26 years old next week.  

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals think they have a spot on their roster for pitcher Nate Adcock.   This 22-year-old righty was drafted by the Mariners in the 5th round of the 2006 draft, and came to the Pirates in July 2009 as part of the trade for Jack Wilson and Ian Snell.  Adcock had been at the Mariners' A+ level, and he plugged right into the Pirates' A+ team, which was then in Lynchburg.  He made 4 starts and 3 relief appearances over the last month of the 2009 season, earning a 3-2 record and a 5.25 ERA -- he had been 5-7 with a 5.29 ERA at A+ High Desert.  Adcock spent all of the 2010 season at the A+ level with the Bradenton Marauders, where he made 26 starts and one relief appearance.  He earned an 11-7 record and an improved 3.38 ERA.  He threw 141 innings, and allowed 131 hits, 53 earned runs, and 38 walks, with 113 strikeouts.  Adcock will have to remain on the Royals major league team, which means a three-level jump for him, or be returned to the Pirates.