Pirates to acquire 2B Iwamura in trade with Rays

By Jon Heyman, SI.com

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The Pirates will acquire second baseman Akinori Iwamura in a trade with the Rays, SI.com has confirmed. The trade could be announced Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay was not expected to pick up Iwamura's $4.85 million option for 2010, especially when the Rays have other options at second base, including versatile slugger Ben Zobrist and promising young infielder Sean Rodriguez, the key player acquired from the Angels in the Scott Kazmir trade.

Iwamura, who had established himself as a star in Japan, signed a three-year, $7.7 million deal with the Rays prior to the 2007 season. In three years with Tampa Bay, Iwamura hit .281 with 14 homers, 104 RBIs and 201 runs scored. A partially torn ACL limited Iwamura to just 69 games in 2009.

The St. Petersburg Times first reported the trade.