Pirates' Loot to Join Crawdads

Bryan Morris, the lone starting pitcher exchanged in Thursday's Jason Bay-Manny Ramirez trade, will join the Hickory Crawdads immediately, according to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Morris, one of two Los Angeles Dodgers' first-round draft picks (No. 26 overall) in the 2006 draft, will join the Crawdads for their four-game homestand against the Rome Braves beginning August 2.

A 6-foot-3, 200-pound right-handed starter from Tullahoma, Tenn., Morris made 17 starts for the Great Lakes Loons of the Class-A Midwest League this season, going 2-4 with a 3.20 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 81.2 innings.

Morris returns after spending the 2007 recovering from Tommy John surgery and was originally drafted out of high school by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2005 draft before electing to spend one season at Motlow State (Tenn.) CC. Baseball America ranked Morris the No. 12 prospect in the Dodgers system before 2008 and his 72 Ks and 3.20 ERA would lead both categories among Hickory pitchers this season.

Morris figures to slot into a Crawdads starting rotation that features Duke Welker, Rafael De Los Santos, Matt McSwain and Michael Felix.

Morris came to the Pirates along with INF Andy LaRoche (No. 2 Los Angeles prospect according to Baseball America) from the Dodgers and OF Brandon Moss (No. 11) and reliever Craig Hansen (No. 18) from the Boston Red Sox in the three-way trade that sent Pittsburgh's Bay to Boston and the Red Sox's Ramirez to Los Angeles before Wednesday's trading deadline.