Andrew Lambo is a 21-year-old corner outfielder who is currently hitting .271/.325/.420 in AA. He was ranked the 49th best prospect in baseball prior to the 2009 season but has fallen off a bit after a year and a half of pedestrian hitting numbers in Double A, coupled with a 50-game suspension this year for violating the drug policy.
However, he's at an age where many players are still in college. If he develops more power he can be a starting outfielder at the major league level in a few years. He should join Altoona's starting lineup immediately.
Also coming over is James McDonald, a 25-year-old righthanded pitcher who's currently 6-1 with a 4.41 ERA in AAA with 57 strikeouts and 24 walks in 63 innings.McDonald pitched almost all of 2009 as a moderately valuable major league reliever, where he went 5-5 with a 4.00 ERA. He was sent back down to be converted into a starter.
McDonald throws a 93 mph fastball and a good slow curveball but needs to develop his changeup to be a successful MLB starting pitcher. I wouldn't be surprised if he joins the MLB rotation right away.
Dotel ends his Pirate career 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA and 21 saves. He was one of my favorite players on the team and that is a great save number for a team with only 36 victories total. However, I am optimistic about the return for Dotel. Clearly either Evan Meek or Joel Hanrahan can step into his closing role; the question is whether any of the other relievers can handle Meek's seventh inning job. For what it's worth, Dotel will probably be a free agent after the year although I'd expect him to sign with a big market team after his good 2010.
UPDATE: McDonald will join the major league team.
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