You can probably strike Canadian catcher John Suomi off the draftable list... he apparantly suffered a horrendous knee injury in the playoffs and will miss most, or all, of 2005. The injury was likened (according to BA) to what one might see in a car accident.

Uh.. that's exactly who you take. You can keep him on the DL the whole season.

Uh.. that's exactly who you take. You can keep him on the DL the whole season.

From what I understand 60 day DL time does NOT count towards the full season roster time required. Hence he'd have to be on the ML roster in 2006.

Sure you want an excuse to stash a player on the 60-day DL, but you don't want to take a catcher who may never be able to catch again. The risk is probably too great with Suomi given the severity of the injury. And yeah, Suomi would then have to be kept on the active roster for a period of time in 2006.

Not that I advocate selecting this guy. But if you do have a guy who is injured, do you have to put him on the dl? Couldn't you just keep him on the roster, thus gaining service time?

Could you afford to only have three available bench players in the American League? The player's union might have a problem with it too...

One players of interest that could get picked in the Rule 5 is Chris Gomez, having signed a minor league deal with the O's. I know there was one or two other teams interested in his services. The Expos grabbed Andy Fox last year in a similar situation.

Toronto has lost Tyrell Godwin with the 3rd pick of the draft to Washington, according to BA.

Only 12 picks and the Rule 5 draft is over!

well, who took who?

Arizona - Angel Garcia
KC - Andy Sisco
Washington - Tyrell Godwin, Tony Blanco
Orioles - Luke Hagerty
A's - Tyler Johnson
Phillies - Shane Victorino
Twins - Ryan Rowland-Smith
Red Sox - Adam Stern

I'm missing three, but that's all BA listed.
There will also be a minor league phase, but only organizational players should change hands...

Matt Merricks, lefty, was taken by Colorado from Atlanta... sounds like, if the Jays did pick, they did not take a lefty.
Two more players left unaccounted for...

Marcos Carvajal, plucked by the Brewers from Dodgers
One to go...

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/041213rulefiveblog.html
Here's BA's blog of the draft (COMN) -- awfully short, considering it was just a 12-minute Rule 5 session. I figured activity would be fairly light, but just 12 players taken in a possible 90 spots is pretty shocking.

Good luck to Ty (Oh My) Godwin -- he had no future in Toronto, and Jim Bowden loves tools-intensive players. He has always seemed like a smart, hardworking type, so we wish him every success.

The Jays, near as we can tell, selected no one in the major-league session. I'll bet they'll be busier in the minor-league portion, however.

I hope BA does a blog from the major-league draft next June -- that would be extremely cool. The idea is good; too bad the activity wasn't commensurate.

J.P. and co. left the winter meetings yesterday to prepare for Koskie news conference - does that have any bearing on this or is there a conference call set up?

I find it dissappointing we didnt select a LOOGY type - they were available and at 300,000 were as likely as anyone on the FA under 2 million market to succeed in that role

51 players were taken in the Rule 5 triple-A phase, according to BA.

The best news out of the draft is that it does not appear the Jays lost any prospects like Davis Romero or Robinzon Diaz. Godwin was expendable, especially given his lack of plate discipline.

D.J. Houlton, rhp was the last pick in the major league phase. I also said Merrick was taken from Atlanta but I forgot that he was traded to LA late in the season....

Round One
Player New Organization Old Organization
Angel Garcia, rhp Arizona Minnesota
Andy Sisco, lhp Kansas City Chicago Cubs
Tyrell Godwin, of Washington Toronto
Marcos Carvajal,rhp Milwaukee Los Angeles
Matt Merricks, lhp Colorado Los Angeles
Luke Hagerty, lhp Baltimore Chicago Cubs
Shane Victorino, of Philadelphia Los Angeles
Tyler Johnson, lhp Oakland St.Louis
Ryan Rowland-Smith, lhp Minnesota Seattle
D.J Houlton, rhp Los Angeles Houston
Adam Stern, of Boston Atlanta

Round Two
Player New Organization Old Organization
Tony Blanco, of-1b Washington Cincinnati

I'm pleased that Davis Romero skated through. I'm surprised that Alex Romero made it through, unless there's an age discrepancy with him. I am quite sure that he is a better prospect than Tyrell Godwin.

J.P and co didn't leave yesterday. They are leaving tonight for the Koskie news conference tomorrow.

With the Jays not selecting a LOOGY, I have to assume that means JP believes the Jays have a legitimate shot at signing Steve Kline. That's good news for the bullpen which lacked an effective leftie all last season.

I don't think the Jays not taking a LH reliever has any significance to their pursuit of Kline - I think it's just they didn't think there was anyone worth taking a shot at.

Said another way, even if the team signed Kline I don't think it would have prevented them from taking a reliever if they thought he could stick.

http://www.milb.com/roundup/?id=2353
In the AAA phase, the Jays picked up two releivers (COMN):

Lee Gronkiewicz from Cleveland and Milton Tavarez from Boston.
http://www.sports-wired.com/profiles/GR/tbc5521.asp
http://www.sports-wired.com/profiles/TA/tbc45731.asp

They also lost Neomar Flores to Cleveland.

Gronkieiwcz won the Rolaids Relief Man Award in 2003.
Could be a decent pickup.

Anyone know of any starters that were picked in the AAA portion of the draft? (I mean, players who later went on to become MLB regulars?)

If you consider him a regular, Frank Menechino.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/profiles/GR/tbc5521.asp
Gronkiewicz's numbers COMN

http://milb.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=minorbaseball&page=milb-sa/teams/L23/roster.aspx?team=L23
There's just a small correction on JC's post. Milton Tavarez, who is 22 and played in the Sally League(COMN), was taken in the double A Rule 5 draft.

Thanks, JC.

Tavarez used to call himself Rafael Sanchez. Presuming his identity is now correct, especially his age, he looks like a closer candidate in Dunedin.

Gronkiewicz is a terrific pickup. Adding him and Gaudin in the last two days should make Syracuse fans very happy. They are cornering the market on little righties who throw strikes.

Gronkiewicz could be a serviceable closer or setup guy for one of the mid-level clubs; Tavarez's numbers aren't particularly exciting, considering his age. I'm sure these guys will be useful parts of the farm teams to which they're assigned, but I don't think they're diamonds in the rough.

Neomar Flores had no future with the organization, so he might as well try his luck with the Indians. Count me as very happy (and a little relieved) that Robinzon Diaz and Davis Romero are still with the Jays.

Yes, it could have been much worse than losing Flores, so it's been another excellent day for the organization.

Tavarez is underwhelming, but "Gronk" is a successful finesse type with a closer mentality. I didn't mean to compare him to Gaudin as a prospect, only as a welcome addition. I do think he could be a solid setup guy in Triple-A or the anchor in New Hampshire.

One players of interest that could get picked in the Rule 5 is Chris Gomez, having signed a minor league deal with the O's. I know there was one or two other teams interested in his services. The Expos grabbed Andy Fox last year in a similar situation.

Chris Gomez was drafted in the minor league phase, going from the O's to the Phillies...

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/tor/news/tor_news.jsp?ymd=20041213&content_id=921986&vkey=news_tor&fext=.jsp
Dr. Prison Fence on the Jays and the Rule 5 (COMN).

Chris Gomez was drafted in the minor league phase, going from the O's to the Phillies...

I'm sorry, but signing Gomez to a contract and then not even putting him on the Triple-A Roster is just horribly, shockingly insensitive and stupid. Way to go Orioles.

Godwin will be back, if the Jays want him. There's no way he lasts the year in Washington.

He, He, Rotoworld was reporting (and critical of) a deal where Tampa Bay had traded Kevin Cash to the Diamondbacks for the Diamondbacks' first pick in the Rule 5 draft. They then corrected themselves to say that Tampa traded cash not Cash.

As a fan of the Rule 5 draft it is a little disappointing that the Jays did not pick up a Rule 5'er but it makes sense. With all the freeagents on the market yet to sign, a lot of guys will have to clear waivers when the big names are added to rosters. It makes sense to pick off one of these, as in theory, these guys, having been protected, may be better options.

I believe this is the first year under JP's tenure that he has not particpated in the Rule 5 draft.

I am very familiar with the workings of the ML Rule 5 draft, but can someone explain the parameters of the MINOR LEAGUE Rule 5 draft? What does the drafting team give up ($) and what do they need to do to keep him?

Who is eligible to be drafted?

Thanks...

Kieran, I know there are no level requirements for the minor league portion of the Rule V draft. So if you draft someone in the AAA phase, you don't have to keep them at AAA. They can be placed wherever.

After the major league phase teams can protect an additional number of prospects (I think about 40) and anyone else is eligible to be selected, I presume within the parameters of who is eligible for the original Rule 5 draft. Then before the AA phase, teams can protect another number of prospects.

One of the selections costs $12,500, but I can't remember if that is the AAA phase or the AA phase. I think it maybe the latter, with $25,000 being the cost at AAA. But I'm not positive.

AAA phase costs 12K, AA costs 4K. Teams can protect an additional 37 or 38 guys for these phases (per phase). As Thomas said, the same parameters for the major league phase apply here.
I like Gronk - he's a soft tosser, but he changes speeds well and has solid offspeed stuff. He was amongst the best relievers in the country as a collegian at South Carolina.