2016 Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 draft took place Thursday 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 Minnesota Twins started off the draft by selecting RHP Miguel Diaz from the Milwaukee Brewers. He was 1-8, 3.71 ERA, 91 K, 1.18 WHIP, .226 BAA, 3 SV in 94.2 IP over 26 games with 15 GS at Class A Wisconsin. He originally signed with the Brewers in 2011 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Diaz turned 22 on November 28.

The Cincinnati Reds selected catcher Luis Torrens from the New York Yankees. He split 2016 between Short Season A Staten Insland and Class A Charleston. The catcher hit 14 for 45, .311/.360/400 with 0 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB in 12 games at Staten Island and .230/.348/.317 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 9 R, 1 SB in 40 games at Charleston. His minor league caught stealing rate was 41%. He originally signed with the Yankees in 2012 as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela. Torrens turned 20 on May 2nd.

The San Diego Padres selected shortstop Allen Cordoba from the St Louis Cardinals. He hit .362/.427/.495 with 0 HR, 18 RBI, 49 R, 22 SB in 50 games at Rookie Johnson City. He originally signed with the Padres in 2012 as an amateur free agent out of Panama. Cordoba turned 21 on December 6th.

The Tampa Bay Rays selected RHP Kevin Gadea from the Seattle Mariners. He split 2016 between Rookie Arizona and Class A Clinton. He was 1-1, 2.95 ERA, 23 K, 0.98WHIP, .214 BAA, 1 SV in 18.1 IP over 5 games with 2 GS at Arizona and 3-0, 2.15 ERA, 72 K, 1.03 WHIP, .218 BAA, 1 SV in 50.1 IP over 10 games with 6 GS at Clinton. He originally signed with the Mariners in 2012 as an amateur free agent out of Nicaragua. Gadea turned 22 on December 6th.

The Atlanta Braves selected RHP Armando Rivero from the Chicago Cubs. He was 5-3, 2.13 ERA, 105 K, 1.12 WHIP, .169 BAA, 1 SV in 67.2 IP over 43 games at Triple A Iowa in 2016. He originally signed with the Cubs in 2013 as an amateur free agent out of Cuba. Rivero will be 29 on February 1st.

The Arizona Diamondbacks selected RHP Tyler Jones from the New York Yankees. He was 6-2, 2.17 ERA, 67 K, 1.23 WHIP, .249 BAA, 11 SV in 45.2 IP over 33 games at Double A Trenton in 2016. He was originally drafted by the Twins in the 11th round in 2011. Jones turned 27 on September 5th.

The Milwaukee Brewers selected LHP Caleb Smith from the New York Yankees. He was 3-5, 3.96 ERA, 70 K, 1.35 WHIP, .265 BAA, 3 SV in 63.2 IP over 27 games with 7 GS at Double A Trenton in 2016. He was originally drafted by the Yankees in the 14th round in 2013. Smith turned 25 on July 28.

The Los Angeles Angels selected RHP Justin Haley from the Boston Red Sox. He split 2016 between Double A Portland and Triple A Pawtucket. The RHP was 5-4, 2.20 ERA, 59 K, 1.11 WHIP, .219 BAA in 61.1 IP over 12 games at Portland and 8-6, 3.59 ERA, 67 K, 1.13 WHIP, .230 BAA in 85.1 IP over 15 games at Pawtucket. He was originally drafted by the Red Sox in the sixth round in 2012. Haley turned 25 on June 16.

The Chicago White Sox selected RHP Dylan Covey from the Oakland Athletics. He was 2-1, 1.84 ERA, 26 K, 1.30 WHIP, .200 BAA in 29.1 IP over 6 games at Double A Midland in 2016. He was originally drafted by the Athletics in the fourth round in 2013. Jones turned 25 on August 14.

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected LHP Tyler Webb from the New York Yankees. He was 4-3, 3.59 ERA, 82 K, 1.24 WHIP, .245 BAA, 1 SV in 72.2 IP over 36 games with 5 GS at Triple  A Scranton/Wilkes Barre in 2016. He was originally drafted by the Yankees in the 10th round in 2013. Webb turned 26 on July 20.

The Detroit Tigers selected LHP Daniel Stumpf from the Kansas City Royals. He had been claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2015 Rule 5 draft and split 2016 between Class A Advanced Clearwater, Double A Reading, Triple A Lehigh Valley and the Phillies before being returned to the Royals and finished out the season at Double A Northwest Arkansas. The LHP was 0-0, 3.00 ERA, 1 K, 0.67 WHIP, .182 BAA in 3.0 IP over 2 games at Clearwater, 1-0, 4.50 ERA, 3 K, 1.00 WHIP, .188 BAA in 4.0 IP over 3 games at Reading, 0-0, 20.25 ERA, 1 K, 3.00 WHIP, .500 BAA in 1.1 IP over 2 games at Lehigh Valley, 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 2 K, 2.20 WHIP, .409 BAA in 5.0 IP over 7 games with the Phillies and 2-0, 2.11 ERA, 26 K, 0.84 WHIP, .187 BAA, 1 SV in 21.1 IP over 14 games at Northwest Arkansas. He was originally drafted by the Royals in the ninth round in 2012. Stumpf will be 26 on January 4th.

The Baltimore Orioles selected outfielder Aneury Tavarez from the Boston Red Sox. He split 2016 between Portland and Pawtucket. The outfielder hit .335/.379/.506 with 7 HR,47 RBI, 59 R, 18 SB in 106 games at Portland and 3 for 15, .200/.250/.200 with 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 R, 2 SB in 5 games at Pawtucket. He originally signed with the Red Sox in 2010 as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Tavarez will be 25 on April 14.

The Toronto Blue Jays selected RHP Glenn Sparkman from the Kansas City Royals. He split 2016 between Rookie Arizona, Class A Lexington, Class A Advanced Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas, The RHP was 1-3, 5.40 ERA, 17 K, 1.20 WHIP, .279 BAA in 16.2 IP over 7 games at Arizona, 0-2, 6.91 ERA, 19 K, 1.67 WHIP, .350 BAA in 14.1 IP over 3 games at Lexington, 1-0, 3.86 ERA, 9 K, 0.86 WHIP, .209 BAA in 11.2 IP over 2 games at Wilmington and 0-2, 4.58 ERA, 20 K, 1.47 WHIP, .296 BAA in 17.2 IP over 4 games at Northwest Arkansas. He was originally drafted by the Royals in the 20th round in 2013. Jones turned 24 on May 11.

The Boston Red Sox selected shortstop Josh Rutledge from the Colorado Rockies. He signed in the off seasons with the Rockies after he split 2016 between Pawtucket and the Red Sox. The shortstop hit 13 for 49, .265/.345/.388 with 0 HRT, 3 RBI, 9 R, 2 SB in 28 games at Pawtucket and .284/.333/.338 with 1 HR, 10 RBI, 11 R, 0 SB in 39 games with the Red Sox . He was originally drafted by the Rockies in the third round in 2010. Rutledge will be 28 on April 21.

The Cleveland Indians selected LHP Hoby Milner from the Philadelphia Phillies. He split 2016 between Reading and Lehigh Valley. The LHP was 5-3, 1.84 ERA, 54 K, 1.08 WHIP, .224 BAA, 5 SV in 49.0 IP over 38 games  at Reading and 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 22 K, 1.19 WHIP, .258 BAA, 1 SV in 16.0 IP over 11 games at Lehigh Valey. He was originally drafted by the Phillies in the seventh round in 2012. Milner will be 26 on January 13.

The Texas Rangers selected RHP Michael Hauschild from the Houston Astros. He was 9-10, 3.22 ERA, 119 K, 1.27 WHIP, .259 BAA in 139.2 IP over 24 games at Triple A Fresno in 2016. He was originally drafted by the Astros in the 33rd round in 2012. Hauschild will be 27 on January 22.

ROUND 2

The Cincinnati Reds selected catcher Stuart Turner from the Minnesota Twins. He hit .239/.322/.363 with 6 HR, 41 RBI, 40 R, 5 SB in 97 games at Double A Chattanooga in 2016. His minor league caught stealing rate was 35%. He was originally drafted by the Twins in the third round in 2013. Turner will be 25 on December 27.

The Baltimore Orioles selected outfielder Anthony Santander from the Cleveland Indians. He hit .290/.368/.494 with 20 HR, 95 RBI, 90 R, 10 SB in 128 games at Class A Advanced Lynchburg. He originally signed with the Indians in 2011 as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela. Santander turned 22 on October 19.