Joely Rodriguez could make Phillies rotation

Former Pirate minor-leaguer Joely Rodriguez, who the Pirates traded to Philadelphia for Antonio Bastardo, could win a rotation job with the Phillies now that Cliff Lee is hurt.

This is interesting news because it demonstrates the contrast between the Pirates and Phillies organizations. There's no way Rodriguez would have been taken seriously as a rotation candidate if he'd been in Pirates camp -- first, because the Pirates are in much better shape as an organization than the Phillies, and second, because the Pirates wouldn't promote someone with no Triple-A experience to their starting rotation. Rodriguez had a 4.84 ERA with unimpressive peripherals with Altoona last year. Maybe he took a big step forward since last season, and that's a possibility, given his strong performance in the Arizona Fall League. But you'd think the Phillies would still want to test that theory in Triple-A before sending Rodriguez to the wolves. Either way, the Pirates almost certainly would have sent Rodriguez to the minors if they still had him around.