The 2010 Rule 5 Draft is today at 9:00 AM. The Pittsburgh Pirates own the first pick in the draft, with plenty of rumors surrounding how they could use the selection. I will be following all of the draft news leading up to the draft, along with the draft itself. For a preview of the draft, check out my notebook from last night.
8:00 AM: One hour until the draft. Check out the latest Rule 5 buzz from John Manuel at Baseball America.
8:30 AM: Jennifer Langosch reports that the Pirates are likely to take shortstop Josh Rodriguez with the first pick. Rodriguez, who turns 26 in about a week, hit for a .293/.372/.486 line in 317 at-bats in AAA this past year in the Cleveland farm system. He played most of his games at shortstop, and also played second base. Langosch mentions that he would fill the backup infield role if the Pirates went with Ronny Cedeno as their starting shortstop. That’s kind of surprising, since I figured Pedro Ciriaco would play that role.
8:35 AM: I just want to revisit last year’s Rule 5 live blog to point out that pre-draft announcements aren’t always concrete. Last year we heard that the Washington Nationals were expected to draft Zach Kroenke for the New York Yankees. They ended up drafting Jamie Hoffmann, who they did send to the Yankees. 20 minutes before the draft, the Pirates were expected to take pitcher Craig Baker from the Colorado Rockies. Five minutes later it was announced that the Yankees would take Hoffmann. Then, seven minutes before the draft, John Raynor was said to be the Yankees’ pick. The Yankees ended up taking Hoffmann, and the Pirates took Raynor.
8:43 AM: Interesting note on Rodriguez: while playing for the Rice Owls, he lost his starting shortstop position to none other than Brian Friday.
8:54 AM: Paul Hoynes mentions that Rodriguez and Adam Miller are drawing interest in the Rule 5 draft.
8:57 AM: You can watch the stream of the draft here.
8:59 AM: Jonathan Mayo just said the Pirates were going with Josh Rodriguez on the MLB.com broadcast.
9:03 AM: The Pirates have selected Rodriguez. You can read the write up here.
9:04 AM: The Royals selected Nathan Adcock from the Pirates.
9:06 AM: Aneury Rodriguez just went off the board to the Houston Astros. Bad Emaus went to the New York Mets.
9:07 AM: A lot of teams passing on picks now. Adam Miller is still on the board. The San Diego Padres selected George Kontos from the Yankees.
9:10 AM: The Pirates pass in round two. Adam Miller still hasn’t been selected. Makes sense, as the Pirates will have a full 40-man roster after the Scott Olsen, Kevin Correia, and Matt Diaz signings are official.
9:13 AM: The major league portion has completed. The Pirates add Rodriguez and lose Adcock.
9:14 AM: Jonathan Mayo just mentioned that Rodriguez can play second, third, and short, plus the corner outfield positions. He describes Rodriguez as a very cheap free agent addition.
9:16 AM: The AAA portion of the draft will begin in a few minutes. Last year the Pirates selected Rodolfo Cardona in this phase. Keep in mind that any pick is likely just going to be used as minor league depth.
9:21 AM: The AAA phase has begun. The Pirates take Bradley Chalk, an outfielder from San Diego’s AA roster.
9:23 AM: Some information on Chalk, he spent time in high-A, AA, and AAA in 2010. In 2009 he hit for a .301/.357/.398 line in 525 at-bats in high-A. He struggled in high-A and AA this year, and had success in 80 at-bats in AAA. Probably won’t be more than a bench player.
9:28 AM: No one taken from the Pirates in round one. The Pirates select Travis Scott, a catcher from the Los Angeles Angels in round two.
9:29 AM: Scott only has 11 at-bats above the high-A level, and turns 26 in April. He has a career .276/.353/.485 line in parts of four seasons in high-A. The Pirates are thin at catching depth in the upper levels of the minors, especially if they manage to trade Ryan Doumit (which would move Jason Jaramillo from AAA as a starter to the majors as a backup).
9:33 AM: The Pirates pass in round three.
9:34 AM: The AAA phase is complete. No Pirates selected. The Pirates pass in the AA portion, so their day is done. Still a chance they could lose someone, although it’s not going to be important at this phase.
9:36 AM: The Pirates selected Cesar Valdez from the Arizona Diamondbacks as the player to be named later in the Zach Duke trade.
9:38 AM: The Rule 5 draft is complete. Pirates select Josh Rodriguez in the major league phase, and Bradley Chalk/Travis Scott in the AAA phase. The only player they lost was Nathan Adcock to the Royals.
