Rule 5 Draft

The Pirates have selected John Raynor, an outfielder from the Marlins. They also picked up a player from Baltimore in the Triple A phase while losing no one.

The selection of Raynor is very interesting in that the bench is now rather crowded. There is no way camp breaks without Raynor on the team. This means there are going to be 5 outfielders on the team with McCutchen, Jones, Milledge, Young (who will not be a back up second baseman, but return to the outfield), and now Raynor. The bench then is full with the signing of Bobby Crosby becoming official and Ramon Vasquez and Jason Jarmillo already on the team. This seems to be what the Pirates are saying is the case, but I am hopeful that it points to moving Jones to firstbase.

There is no way Jeff Clement is going to be ready to play first base out of Spring Training. His defense needs work. And Pierce has shown now that he will be an offensive liability. If Jones is moved to first, then a spot is open on the bench and Raynor becomes the fourth outfield behind Young. Or Raynor stays the fifth as either Brandon Moss makes the team or Jose Tabata makes the team.

Either way you look at it the pick is bad news for Brandon Moss.