Pitchers dominate Rule 5 draft; White Sox select Milwaukee right-hander Smith
DALLAS — Pitchers again dominated the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings, comprising 11 of the 15 unprotected players who were picked Wednesday.
The 121-loss White Sox had the first pick and selected 24-year-old right-hander Shane Smith from the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
Smith was an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest when he was signed by Milwaukee in July 2021. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder has gone 13-7 with a 2.69 ERA and 203 strikeouts over 157 innings in 19 starts and 54 relief appearances over three minor-league seasons.
Two of the four position players taken by other teams came from the Detroit Tigers organization: catcher Liam Hicks and third baseman Gage Workman.
Miami drafted second after Colorado passed making a selection, and took Hicks. Workman was taken by the Cubs with the 10th pick.
There were 14 teams who made picks in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft of players left off 40-man rosters after several minor-league seasons. Only Atlanta made two selections, after making none since 2017.
Atlanta chose right-hander Anderson Pilar from the Miami Marlins with the 11th pick, and then took infielder Christian Cairo from the Cleveland Guardians with the 15th and final pick in the MLB portion.
The 26-year-old Pilar was original signed by Colorado as a minor-league free agent in 2015 and has pitched in 213 minor-league games that included 17 starts. He is 28-20 with a 2.86 ERA.
Teams pay $100,000 to take a player in the major-league portion. The players must stay on the big league roster all of next season or clear waivers and be offered back to their original organization for $50,000.
Six of the 10 players selected during the Rule 5 draft last December — five of them right-handed pitchers — remained last season with organization that selected them.
Right-hander Eiberson Castellano, the current minor-league pitcher of the year in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, was taken Wednesday by Minnesota with the ninth selection. The 23-year-old Castellano split the season between High-A and Double-A, going 6-5 with a 3.99 ERA over 103 2/3 innings. He struck out 136 and walked 29.
The Phillies did get a right-hander with the 14th pick, the last of the first round, Mike Vasil from the New York Mets organization.
Boston finds replacement catcher:
The Boston Red Sox acquired catcher Carlos Narváez from the New York Yankees on Wednesday in exchange for minor league pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international signing bonus pool money.
Boston made the rare deal with its AL East rival after earlier in the day during the winter meetings sending top catching prospect Kyle Teel to the White Sox. Teel was one of four prospects the Red Sox traded to Chicago for All-Star left-handed pitcher Garret Crochet.
Narváez made his big league debut with the Yankees by hitting .231 in six games this year. The 26-year-old Venezuelan, originally signed by the organization as an undrafted free agent in 2015, hit .254 with 11 homers and 58 RBIs in 96 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He started 58 games at catcher, 23 as the designated hitter and 12 at first base.
Red Sox second baseman Enmanuel Valdez, their opening day starter last season, was designated for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster.
Former Sox infielder Burger traded again:
Texas acquired slugging corner infielder Jake Burger from Miami for three minor league players Wednesday during the winter meetings, and the Rangers later signed reliever Jacob Webb to a $1.25 million contract to bolster their bullpen.
The Rangers made those moves a day after accomplishing one of their primary off-season goals with a deal to re-sign Nathan Eovaldi, the winning pitcher in their 2023 World Series clincher.
Burger hit .250 with 29 home runs and 76 RBIs in 137 games for the Marlins last season, with 150 strikeouts in 535 at-bats with 31 walks. He started 59 games at third base and made 50 starts at first. Five days of service time short of being eligible for salary arbitration this offseason, he will be eligible next winter and can become a free agent after the 2028 World Series.
“He's played third, he's played some first, DH. And I think that’s a pretty good fit in terms of building out our depth with our current lineup and adding an impact bat,” said Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations. “We’ve said one of our goals is to get back to being a very good offense that we were in 2023. We think he helps us with that.”
Bieber explains comeback with Cleveland:
Shane Bieber's comeback with Cleveland has double meaning. And deeper meaning.
The former Cy Young winner re-signed with the Guardians on Wednesday, a reunion that seemed unlikely when he became a free agent following last season. However, the 29-year-old Bieber decided to stick with the AL Central champions after making just two starts in 2024 before undergoing Tommy John surgery.
There were other offers. None of them matched what he already had in Cleveland.
“It's the relationships,” Bieber said on a Zoom call. "The development staff. The coaching staff. My teammates. Having continuity and familiarity in those realms I feel like can prove beneficial not only to me but my family and everybody really involved.
"That was big for me to feel confident in my rehab where I’m at right now. Nobody knows me as well as Cleveland does and vice versa, so I’m happy to be continuing with them."