Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘Rule 5’

Right handed pitcher John Madden and outfileder Javis Diaz were selected with picks 23 and 26 respectively in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft today. Madden goes tot he Mets and Diaz goes to the Phillies.

With the Wizards in 2006, Diaz appeared in 27 games where he hit .315 with seven RBIs and eight stolen bases. The following year with Fort Wayne, Diaz appeared in 117 games. He had a .277 average with seven home runs, 36 RBIs and 31 stolen bases.

Madden appeared in 49 games with the Wizards in 2006, all of the in relief. He compiled a 2-3 record with a 2.12 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 51 innings pitched. He also had 20 saves to boot.

However, neither player put up very impressive numbers during the tenure following their Fort Wayne stints. Paul DePodesta echoes this sentiment on his blog:

John is a low 3/4 reliever who has done a nice job over the past two seasons in Lake Elsinore and just turned 26.

Javis is a a 24 year old outfielder who can run, but he started losing playing time this year in Elsinore.

In most cases, players are exposed in the minor league phase when we believe that they will likely have a better opportunity with another Club as of next spring. Sometimes it’s simply a numbers game – who is moving up a level, who is going to get the playing time, etc.

Another reaction from around the Blog-o-sphere:

• Phillies Nation on Diaz: “Another poor hitter, he stole 28 bases last season for the Padres A+ team. Nothing else says he’s a winner.”

This time of year, I like to start compiling a list of Padres prospects who might potentially get assigned to Fort Wayne when the following season starts. Once such prospect was a Dodgers prospect until just a few months ago when the Friars traded future Hall of Famer, Greg Maddux to the Dodgers. They went onto the playoffs, to the value of the trade was all the higher.

Michael Watt was selected by Los Angeles as the 86th overall pick out of Capistrano Valley High School in last years draft. Thus far, he has played only rookie level ball, so he may or may not get assigned to TinCaps camp right away. And (as well all know) there’s always a chance he won’t play there at all. 

In the lefty’s final 23 innings, he had 20 strikeouts and zero walks. He went 9-4 with a 4.35 ERA in the hitter-friendly Pioneer League [source: SignOnDanDiego].

The above source also has a brief update on the progress of former Wizards Nick Schmidt and Matt Bush. No startling revelations there. Bush is still on shutdown while Schmidt is making fine progress. Thsi season will be a better gauge of their longterm outlooks and both will likely be protected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

I’ve blogged a lot about Joakim Soria on this blog because he may go down to be one of the best Rule-5 pickups in MLB history. Just days after the Royals plucked him from the Padres organization after being left unprotected in the 2006 Rule-5 Draft, Soria pitched a perfect game in the Mexican League. He broke into the majors that very season and had a very impressive year.

This year, he’s been lights out. He has a 1.04 ERA this season with 11 saves in 18 appearances. His 11-for-11 success streak also matches the Royals club record to start a season.

The Kansas City Royals are now building upon some good decisions in turning around what has been one of the most pathetic baseball teams in the last decade or two. Today, they locked up Soria through 2012 (hat tip to MLB Rumors). It was a wonderful birthday present for the former Wizards pitcher.

The deal includes $8.75 million in guaranteed money over the next three seasons with club options for 2012-14 that could boost the total value to $32.75 million . . . Soria is making $426,500 this year in his second big-league season. The new deal boosts his salary to $1 million in 2009, $3 million in 2010 and $4 million in 2011. He gets $750,000 as a buyout if the Royals choose not to exercise a $6 million option for 2012 . . . The fourth year becomes guaranteed if Soria makes 55 appearances in 2011 or 110 in 2010-11. The total value for six years would be about $30 million if he remains a reliever.