Pirates claim SS Josh Rodriguez with the No. 1 pick in the Rule-5 draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates intensified their efforts to upgrade the shortstop position on Wednesday, aggressively pursuing Jason Bartlett and J.J. Hardy but after striking out on both players, the Pirates were forced to look to the Rule-5 draft.

The Pirates today selected Cleveland Indians shortstop Josh Rodriguez with the No. 1 pick in the Rule-5 draft.

Rodriguez, 25, with turn 26 later this month and is a versatile player who can also play third base, second base and in the outfield.

However, Rodriguez doesn’t address the Pirates pressing need at shortstop by any means as Rodriguez is seen as nothing more than a utility guy by scouts.

The former…

second round pick in 2006, hit .293 with 12 home runs and 46 RBI’s in 86 games with the Indians Triple-A affiliate. In 21 games at the Double-A level, Rodriguez hit .317 with 1 home run and 11 RBI’s for Akron.

The scouting report on Rodriguez is that he has average all around tools, but has the ability to hit for power and speed. He’s somewhat offensive minded.

Today, the Pirates lost RHP Nate Adcock to the Kansas City Royals in the Rule-5 Draft. Adock went 11-7 with a 3.38 ERA last season for Class A Bradenton.

The Pirates will officially announce today that they have signed Scott Olsen to a one year deal. The deal is significantly incentive laden and the deal includes a $4 million option in 2012.

Notes

The Pirates announced this morning that the team will receive RHP Cesar Valdez from Arizona as the player to be named later in the Zach Duke trade.