Orioles Make Selections In Today's Rule 5 Draft

[ofahn]

In the Major League phase of today's Rule 5 draft the Orioles today chose IF Ryan Flaherty from the Chicago Cubs' Triple-A roster. In 344 ABs at AA Flaherty, 24, had a slash line of 305/.384/.523 for an OPS of .907 and a slash line of .237/.277/.396 for an OPS of .676 in 186 ABs at AAA Iowa. Flaherty's primary position was at 2B and gives us one more middle infield option this spring. Flaherty must remain on the ML roster all year or be offered back to the Cubs after clearing waivers.

The Orioles did not lose a player in the ML phase of the draft and I don't believe that they lost a player in the Minor League phase either which surprised me.

In the AAA phase of today’s draft the Orioles chose LHP Andrew Loomis, 26, from the Phillies’ AA Reading roster. Loomis pitched to a record of 1 and 2 with an ERA of 1.14 for a WHIP of 1.168 all in relief, and in the AA phase the Orioles chose 3B Matt Sweeney, 23, from Tampa’s AA Montgomery roster. In 305 ABs Sweeney had a slash line of .154/.262/.282 for an OPS of .544. Like the AAA phase Sweeney does not have to remain on the 40 man roster during the season to remain in the Orioles’ organization.

The end result of today's moves are that the Orioles lost Pedro Florimon to the Twins for an opportunity to give Ryan Flaherty a try out in Spring training. Do you agree or disagree with this move?

[TuckerBlair89]

Really like these picks.

Flaherty was one of the more interesting names in the draft (que the Cubs jokes). He has some pop in the bat, gets on base at a decent enough clip, and can play a little bit around the diamond. I like the pickup, even if he doesn't stick. Who knows, maybe he plays well enough to make someone else expendable in the future.

The other two guys are whatever to me. The odds of anyone in the minor league phase actually amounting to anything are even less than the major league phase of the draft. Interesting that Sweeney was a part of the Kazmir trade though.

[ofahn]

Kazmir will be an interesting name to watch this winter. If he decides to become a pitcher instead of a thrower and is completely healthy he would be a worthy pickup on a minor league deal with a modest (300K) guarantee.