Pirates close to landing W. Rodriguez The Pirates are focusing their quest for pitching help on left-hander Wandy Rodriguez of the Astros, MLB.com has learned. There is no confirmation from either side of a tentative deal having been struck, but the sides are close enough to an agreement that the Bucs have for the time being pulled the plug on other prospective deals involving a left-hander. Rodriguez may already have begun the process of undergoing the pre-requisite physical before the deal becomes official, although no announcement is expected Tuesday night. The Cubs’ Paul Maholm, the recent member of the Pirates’ rotation, and Minnesota’s Francisco Liriano had been other southpaws of interest. Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington first inquired on Rodriguez during the offseason, when the Astros made it known he was available. Rodriguez was one of several veteran starters under consideration until the Bucs decided to sign Erik Bedard. Rodriguez, 33, is 7-9 in 21 starts for the Astros, with a fine ERA of 3.79. He tendered a quality start Monday night against the NL Central leading Reds, holding them to three runs in six innings. The native of the Dominican Republic has a career record of 80-84 and is in the middle of a three-year contract. He is earning $ 10 million this season and is due to earn $13 million in 2013. There also is an option for 2014 at $13 million, with a $2.5 million buyout. http://tomsinger.mlblogs.com/2012/07/25/pirates-close-to-landing-w-rodriguez/
Heard hanson has been pulled? http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=SS&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=593700
Story on Hanson... he sounds like an emerging prospect. 19 years old and tearing it up this year in A ball. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-bulletin/2012/2613771.html
Pirate Message boards are saying Hanson was pulled due to not running out grounder. I don't see the pirates trading a top #50 prospect for Wandy, with Wandy being owed $30M thru 2014. They have been pretty stingy with prospects to date. Edit: Actually a couple of pirate bloggers/radio hosts are suggesting it could be Hanson if the Astros kick in $$. Pirate fans are not happy.
I think it'd be insane to get another middle infield prospect. There's already a huge prospect congestion in the minors at SS and 2B; I have no idea where he'd play.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>there is $ changing hands in wandy deal. he has $30M to go thru '13, so <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523astos">#astos</a> will send dollars to <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523pirates">#pirates</a>. done deal.</p>— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/status/227933424227344385" data-datetime="2012-07-25T01:08:57+00:00">July 25, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Zachary Levine @zacharylevine With Wandy Rodriguez reportedly Pittsburgh-bound, Wesley Wright would be the longest-tenured Astros player.
can't wait to see what the return is. is that luhnow's final bullet? chris johnson? possibly coco cordero later in year? so long, wandy. you had a heck of a run here. really fun to watch at times. good luck in pitt.
