Pirates send Buddy Borden to Rays to finalize trade for Sean Rodriguez

The Pittsburgh Pirates shipped 22-year-old right-hander Buddy Borden to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday evening to finalize a trade from earlier this month that sent utilityman Sean Rodriguez to Pittsburgh.

Selected in the seventh round of the 2013 draft, Borden enjoyed a fine campaign with West Virginia of the South Atlanta League this year, his first full season as a professional, crafting a 3.16 ERA with a 1.18 ERA over 128 innings.

Borden, a product of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, wields a fastball that can touch 96 miles per hour with a curveball that "works as a strikeout pitch" and could be a mid-rotation starter in the majors, according to Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com.