There have been a lot of questions about who the Pittsburgh Pirates sent to the San Diego Padres as the player to be named later in the Ryan Ludwick trade. The Padres haven’t picked a player yet, but they still have time to make a decision. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres will have their PTBNL questions cleared up after the Rule 5 draft, getting picks from the Cubs and Pirates.
The fact that the Padres are waiting until after the draft gives a strong indication that the players on their list are Rule 5 eligible. It wouldn’t make sense for them to select the player before the Rule 5 draft, since they could potentially lose that player in the draft. And if the Pirates lose that player, they can just pick someone else.
The full list of the Pirates’ Rule 5 eligible players can be found here.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
