Padres acquire No. 1 pick Miguel Diaz in Rule 5 draft trade
The San Diego Padres, who finished 68-94 last season, have used Thursday's Rule 5 draft to add the top three selections to their roster.
The Padres traded for No. 1 overall pick Miguel Diaz and have agreed to a deal with theCincinnati Redsto acquirecatcher Luis Torrens, the No. 2 pick. The Padres had the No. 3 pick in the draft, which they used to select shortstop Allen Cordoba from the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Minnesota Twinsselected Diaz, a 22-year-old right-hander, with the first pick from theMilwaukee Brewers before dealing him to San Diego.Diaz was 1-8 with a 3.71 ERA in 26 appearances (15 starts) for the Brewers' Class A team in the Midwest League, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
The Padres also will acquire Torrens, selected by the Redsfrom the New York Yankees. The20-year-old from Venezuela batted .250 with two home runs and 15 RBIs in 314 plate appearances in two stops in the Yankees system, finishing the year at Charleston, New York's Class A team in the South Atlantic League.
"They're all guys that our scouting group really likes, guys we've been tracking for a while now," Padres general manager A.J. Preller said, according to MLB.com. "We got three additions today that we liked, and we're excited about."
Cordoba, a 21-year-old from Panama, hit .362 with 18 RBIs in 220 plate appearances for Johnson City, the Cardinals' rookie league team in the Appalachian League.
Rule 5 picks must remain on a major league roster for the entire season or be offered back to their previous team. The Rule 5 draft traditionally marks the end of baseball's winter meetings.
TheBoston Red Soxselected shortstopJosh Rutledgewith the No. 14 pick from the Colorado Rockies, bringing him back to their organization. Rutledge, who played for the Red Sox in both 2015 and '16, had signed as a free agent with the Rockies in November. He hit .265 with six doubles and three RBIs in 56 plate appearances for Boston last season but had season-ending knee surgery in August.
The Reds and Baltimore Orioles were the only teams to select two players in the major league portion of the draft. The Reds selected Torrens and catcher Stuart Turner (No. 18 from the Twins).Baltimore selected outfielder Aneury Tavarez (No. 12 from the Red Sox) and outfielder Anthony Santander (No. 19 from theCleveland Indians).
TheTampa Bay Raysselected right-handed pitcher Kevin Gadea at No. 4 from the Seattle Mariners, and the Atlanta Braves picked right-handed reliever Armando Rivero from the Chicago Cubs to round out the top five.
The World Series-champion Cubs didn't select a player in the draft but did acquire one of the players selected, receiving left-handed pitcher Caleb Smith from the Brewers, who had selected him at No. 7 from the Yankees.
The Yankees had the most players picked from their organization -- Torrens, right-handed pitchers Tyler Jones (No. 6, Arizona Diamondbacks) and Smith, and left-hander Tyler Webb (No. 10, Pittsburgh Pirates).
The Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, with two players selected, were the only other teams to lose multiple prospects Thursday. Boston lost right-hander Justin Haley (No. 8, dealt from Angels to Padres to Twins) and Tavarez (No. 12, Orioles). Kansas City lost left-hander Daniel Stumpf (No. 11, Detroit Tigers) and right-hander Glenn Sparkman (No. 12, Toronto Blue Jays).
Stumpf, who was selected in the Rule 5 draft last season from the Royals, appeared in seven games for the Phillies last season. He was suspended 80 gamesfor violating Major League Baseball's policy against performance-enhancing drugs and was returned to the Royals in July.
