What Did The Rest Of NL Central Do In Rule 5?

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The MLB Rule 5 draft was all about selecting pitching, unless your team was the Pittsburgh Pirates.  We give you

a quick rundown from the Rule 5 as it relates to the teams the Pirates are staring up at in the NL Central standings.

"“We like him as a guy to compete to make our club as a middle-utility player with upside to potentially become an everyday player,” Pirates GM Neal Huntington on first pick in the Rule 5 draft, Josh Rodriguez"

Cubs

The Cubs traded their first pick in the Rule 5, Mason Tobin, a right hand pitcher from Salt Lake AAA to the Texas Rangers.  The big news for the Cubs wasn’t who they traded, but who they were able to keep.  Marquez Smith is still a Cub today.  That makes Cubs fans very happy.

In other news the Cubs did lose Casey Lambert, a left handed pitcher who had Tommy John and could be involved in the bullpen for Baltimore.  A smart move for the Orioles in essence if Lambert recovers he could become a specialist, and could be an upgrade over the relievers sent to the Twins for Hardy.  Until then, stash him on the DL as often as they can ala Donnie Veal.

Brewers

In the Rule 5 Draft, the Brewers picked right handed pitcher Pat Egan.  The side-armed control freak has some nice low-90’s heat.  He walked 16 batters in 83.2 innings, but struck out just 42.  Egan also participated in the Arizona Fall League, where he posted a 2.13 ERA.

A 6’8″ monster who can’t get the swing and miss, but induces groundballs.  That reminds us of Kameron Loe, and it appears they want some of that magic in the middle innings again with this pick.

The Brewers lost right-hander Adrian Rosario, who was selected by the Baltimore Orioles.

Cardinals

The Red Birds had a pile of talent available in the Rule 5, but came out even–losing a player and also gaining one in the Rule 5.  Actually, the Cardinals left Disneyland with basically the same team they rolled into Ratland with this week.

The Cards lost minor league starter Brian Broderick to the Nats.  Broderick had impressed scouts in the Arizona Fall League.  In the AAA portion of the Rule 5, the Cards picked Jean Mijares a lefty from Minnesota, who like most available in the Rule 5, had some control problems.

Astros

The Astros owned the Bucs last season and took pitchers.   For the number eight pick, they took Aneury Rodriguez who will soon be 23 years old.  Rodriguez was talked about all over Pirates blogs and rightfully so.    Rodriguez has a 1.22 ERA while holding opponents’ to a  .193 BA over seven Dominican League starts. He was at AAA most of the year and had an ERA under 4 while pitching 113.2 innings.  He had lost some velocity which is presumed to be the reason why he was left unprotected.

At the end of the major league phase the ‘Stros grabbed Rice grad Lance Pendleton.   He made 22 starts in AA for the NY Yankees organization.  He had a 12-5 record and a 3.61 ERA. Both Rodriguez and Pendleton should compete for the No. 5 spot in the Astros’ rotation in Spring Training.

The Astros lost Jeiler Castillo, a 22-year old righty to Oakland in the AAA portion of the draft.  No Astros were selected in the ML portion.

Reds

It was very quiet for the kings of the NL Central.  Left-hander Danny Dorn survived and remains at Louisville.

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