2013 Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 draft took place yesterday at the annual winter meeting of the general managers. The eligible pool of players are not on the 40 man roster of a team and were signed at the age of 19 and have been in the organization for four years or were signed at the age of 18 or younger and have been in the organization for five years. Each drafted player costs $50,000 and must remain on the 25 man roster of the drafting team the entire season or be offered back to the original team at half price. Like the regular draft the order starts with the team with the worst record and proceeds to the team with the best. It is the hope of each team that they land the next Josh Hamilton or Johan Santana both former rule 5 draftees.

The Houston Astros started off the draft by selecting LHP Patrick Schuster from the Arizona Diamondbacks. He pitched in 2013 at Class A Advanced Visalia. He was 0-1, 1.83 ERA, 45 K, 1.08 WHIP in 44.1 IP over 55 games. After the drafted he was traded to the Padres to complete the earlier deal for Anthony Bass. He was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 13th round in 2009. Schuster turned 23 on October 30.

The Chicago White Sox selected catcher Adrian Nieto from the Washington Nationals. He played in 2013 at Class A Advanced Potomac. He hit .285/.373/.449 with 11 HR, 53 RBI, 68 R, 4 SB in 110 games. He was originally drafted by the Nationals in the fifth round in 2008. Nieto turned 24 on November 12.

The Philadelphia Phillies selected RHP Kevin Munson from the Arizona Diamondbacks. He split 2013 between Double A Mobile and Triple A Reno. He was 2-2, 3.41 ERA, 39 K, 1.01 WHIP, 13 SV in 31.2 IP over 29 games at Mobile and was 0-2, 5.09 ERA, 27 K, 1.39 WHIP, 1 SV in 23.0 IP over 24 games at Reno. He was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks in the fourth round in 2010. Munson will be 25 on January 3rd.

The Colorado Rockies selected RHP Thomas Kahnle from the New York Yankees. He pitched in 2013 at Double A Trenton. He was 1-3, 2.85 ERA, 74 K, 1.38 WHIP, 15 SV in 60.0 IP over 46 games. He was originally drafted by the Yankees in the fifth round in 2010. Kahnle turned 24 on August 7th.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected LHP Brian Moran from the Seattle Mariners. He pitched in 2013 at Triple A Tacoma. He was 2-5, 3.45 ERA, 85 K, 1.44 WHIP, 4 SV in 62.2 IP over 48 games. After the drafted he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for $244,000 in international cap space. He was originally drafted by the Mariners in the seventh round in 2009. Moran turned 25 on September 30.

The New York Mets selected RHP Seth Rosin from the Philadelphia Phillies. He pitched in 2013 at Double A Reading. He was 9-6, 4.33 ERA, 96 K, 1.22 WHIP in 126.2 IP over 26 games. After the draft he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash. He was originally drafted by the Giants in the fourth round in 2010. He was traded to the Phillies in 2012. Rosin turned 25 on November 2nd.

The Milwaukee Brewers selected LHP Wei-Chung Wang from the Pittsburgh Pirates. He pitched in 2013 at Rookie Gulf Coast. He was 1-3, 3.23 ERA, 42 K, 0.87 WHIP in 47.1 IP over 12 games. He originally signed with the Pirates in 2011 as an international free agent out of Taiwan. Wang turned 21 on April 25.

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected RHP Marcos Mateo from the Chicago Cubs. He split 2013 between Rookie Arizona, Double A Tennessee and Triple A Iowa after missing 2012 with an elbow injury. He was 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 K, 0.83 WHIP in 6.0 IP over 5 games at Arizona, was 1-0, 1.04 ERA, 7 K, 1.50 WHIP in 8.2 IP over 6 games at Tennessee and was 0-0, 2.76 ERA, 15 K, 1.16 WHIP, 1 SV in 16.1 IP over 13 games at Iowa. The RHp does have two seasons MLB experience pitching with the Cubs (2010-2011) going 1-3, 5.04 ERA, 51 K, 1.41 WHIP in 44.2 IP over 44 games. He originally signed with the Reds in 2004 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Mateo turned 29 on April 18.

The Baltimore Orioles selected third baseman Michael Almanzar from the Bost Red Sox. He played in 2013 at Double A Portland. He hit .268/.328/.432 with 16 HR, 81 RBI, 67 R, 13 SB in 131 games. He originally signed with the Red Sox in 2007 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Almanzar turned 23 on December 2nd.