The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 37th round pick Rodarrick Jones, Pirates Prospects has learned. Jones was drafted as a left fielder out of Southern University. Baseball America chose him as the #3 prospect in the New York Collegiate League in the summer of 2009, following his strong season at the University of New Orleans. He’s also a football standout and is athletic with good speed. His hitting fell off in 2010, though, and he transferred to Southern University. He was on the team’s roster but didn’t play, possibly due to ineligibility.
Jones is very athletic with some raw tools, but has some holes in his swing, as seen by his 26% strikeout rate in college, and his .262 average in his final year in New Orleans. He’s more of a project than you would find coming out of college. Jones is expected to start his career off with the GCL Pirates.
The draft pick signing tracker has been updated with the move.
August 9, 2011 at 9:32 pm
I think Jones might become a legit prospect in time.
BTW Mel Rojas Jr. was the #5 prospect in the New York Collegiate League in the summer of ’09. Also, Rojas and Jones had similar numbers that summer.