In an expected move, the Pittsburgh Pirates have signed fifth round pick Brandon Waddell, with the news coming from Waddell’s Twitter account.
Officially a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates organization! Can't wait to get back out on the field!
— Brandon Waddell (@BWaddell20) July 15, 2015
Waddell is a late signing due to his time pitching in the College World Series, in which he played a big role in UVA’s championship run. The Pirates haven’t officially announced the move yet, but he should go to Morgantown when everything is finalized, and should pitch out of their rotation. For more on Waddell, check out his player page.
UPDATE 12:59 PM: Waddell received $315,000, which is slightly under slot.
Per @jimcallisMLB, @Pirates sign 5th-rounder Brandon Waddell (@UVABaseball) for $315K. Tracker http://t.co/9InbCotXI0 pic.twitter.com/WOnP4J7bAt
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 15, 2015
Update 1:10 PM: The Pirates also signed 36th round pick James Marvel, a right-handed pitcher out of Duke. The 21-year-old missed the entire 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery, but showed some promise his first two seasons. You can view his player page here. He will head to Bradenton where he will continue his rehab process.
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.
Great news regarding Waddell….
Not for Marvel though?
In all fairness…it is for a 35th round draft pick. There were, roughly, 1,000 guys that went before him.
He’s got some talent if he can stay healthy, but he’s definitely on the older side at 21, right?
Well he is the right age for a junior, so there is nothing wrong there. He will have to make up for the lost time, but he was putting up good numbers before he got hurt and he was on the right track to go much higher if he was healthy.
He will definitely be a fresh arm with only 42 innings pitched as a Freshman (second best ERA pitchers over 25 IP), and then only 25 IP as a Soph before injuring his elbow. At the time he was 2-2, 1.78 ERA. 6’4″ 200 from Cali and led his team to 2 state championships in Division II? Drafted by Minnesota in the 36th Round out of HS.
He will be the lowest paid Duke grad from his graduation class.
and yet 99% would rather have his job
Good news. Should improve the Morgantown rotation.
Thanks tim.
Finally. Good news. Seems like the all star break is going on forever. Can’t wait till we get back to the season Friday night. Let’s Go Bucs!