The Pirates added five players to their 40-man protected roster last night, including third baseman Neil Walker.
Walker, the Pine-Richland High School graduate, was the Pirates' first-round draft pick in 2004. Also added were outfielder Jose Tabata, catcher Steve Lerud and right-handed pitchers Jeff Sues and Ronald Uviedo.
Among those left off -- and thus eligible to be taken by other organizations in the Rule Five draft in December -- are outfielders Jamie Romak and Brad Corley and first baseman Jason Delaney.
A Rule Five draft pick must remain with his new team in the major leagues for the entire next season or be offered back to his original organization.
It's possible one or more of those players will be taken in the Rule Five draft.
"We don't want to lose anybody," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said last night. "We weighed a lot of variables, and it's our belief we protected the right 40."
Walker, who might feel some urgency to reach the major leagues because of the Pirates' signing of third baseman Pedro Alvarez out of the 2008 draft, batted .242 with 25 doubles, 16 home runs and 80 RBIs for Class AAA Indianapolis this past season.
The Pirates acquired Tabata in the July 26 trade that sent Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees . After the trade, Tabata hit .348 with three home runs and 13 RBIs in 89 at-bats for Class AA Altoona.
Lerud, the Pirates' fourth-round pick in the 2003 draft, has had his development slowed by injuries.
Sues was the Pirates' fifth-round pick in 2005 -- the first pitcher taken by the team in that draft. He was named the organization's minor league pitcher of the year this season after going 4-2 with three saves and a 3.22 earned run average in a season split between Lynchburg and Altoona.
What piques the Pirates' interest in Sues, like Alvarez a Vanderbilt product, is that in 641/3 innings he allowed oNLy 46 hits and 26 walks and struck out 72.
