also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –
The Winter Meetings is coming to an end and one of the final events of the meetings is the Rule 5 draft. It is set to begin in about a minute, and if the Tiwns lose any players or add any players, I will be posting here. The Twins have 37 on their 40 man roster, so if they choose to be, they could be active.
- Twins selected Scott Diamond, a left-handed pitcher from the Atlanta Braves organization. He began 2010 in AA Mississippi where he went 4-6 with a 3.52 ERA in 17 starts. In 102.1 innings, he gave up 113 hits, walked 39 and struck out 90. He moved up to AAA Gwinnett where he made ten starts and went 4-1 with a 3.36 ERA. In 56.1 innings, he gave up 53 hits, walked 15 and struck out 33.
- No Twins players were taken in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft. Kyle Waldrop, Steve Singleton and others that were eligible will be back with the organization. Only 19 players were drafted.
- Teams can have 38 players on their AAA rosters. The Twins have 37, so they could make one pick. Note that these players do not have to be AAA players. Typically they are from A or AA rosters.
- Michael Allen split time between AA New Britain and Hi-A Ft. Myers in 2010. He has a great arm, but really struggled. In 2009, he had a 50 game suspension. The Nationals took him in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 draft.
- Jean Mijares, who pitched for the Elizabethton Twins, was lost (I didn’t catch the team live). Pitched well after a slow start. No relation to Jose Mijares. Jean is small and very skinny.
- Eliecer Cardenas was taken by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the Rule 5 draft. This one kind of hurts. Saw him pitch at Beloit. Throws hard, good slider.
- 24 total players were drafted in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 draft, the AA portion starts right away and usually goes quite quickly.
- The Twins did not make a selection in the AA portion. Only four players were selected.
There will be more on these players at SethSpeaks.net. Any thoughts?
SethSpeaks.net 
Diamond was a starter in the Braves system but will move to the ‘pen for the Twins. Might have a decent chance to stick; reports are that he is much tougher on lefties than RH hitters and could be a good situational option now that Fuentes is gone.
I am glad to hear someone thinks Diamond is tough on lefties, as the only number available at MiLB.com was that he had a 5.68 ERA vs. lefties in AAA (although a WHIP of just over 1.0)!
Sorry, not savvy with the links, but PJCrowder posted this about Diamond on the Braves MiLB website:
He throws a fastball in the high 80s-low90s with a good cutter, curve and change-up. He has improved his command of his secondary pitches, which is the reason for his sudden ascension up the chain.
He pitched for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic.
http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ml-braves&tid=144225
I posted this in the Hardy comments, but it’s a bit more apropos here, so I’m posting it again…
Scott Diamond seems like a pretty nice Rule 5 pick for the Twins. He’s just 24 and potentially projects as a pitch to contact, ground ball inducing back of the rotation left handed starter. He would probably benefit from at least 1/2 of a season in AAA, but that won’t be an option unless a deal is worked out with the Braves.
From what I’ve read, he’s got pretty average stuff, which is what makes him a bit of a fringy prospect. Before reaching AAA last season, he typically struck out 7 batters per 9 innings. The K rate dipped in his first AAA exposure. He typically walks about 2.5 per 9 innings, and he boasts a career ground ball to fly ball ratio of 1.77. Being a ground ball pitcher, he doesn’t allow many home runs. He also very hittable.
I’m at the very least intrigued by this pick. Maybe the Twins will be able to stash him in the bullpen as a long man all year? Perhaps he’s merely a Spring Training starting pitching insurance policy in case of injury or suckiness. Right now I’d probably place him ahead of the Glen Perkins and Anthony Swarzaks of the world, so that may make him 7th or 8th in starting pitching depth??? Or maybe they can work out a deal with the insanely pitching rich Braves to keep him in the system and send him to Rochester to start the season. Regardless, he seems like a solid guy to at least kick the tires on.
People roasted the front office for not protecting KW. Because it was so obvious that he would be scooped up by another team. What a huge mistake the front office made (probably Gardy didn’t like him). What happened???????
I don’t know, DH, people offered their opinions and they turned out to be wrong? Why the anger?*
*and, not everyone thought it was a mistake to leave him unprotected…
Agreed. The Rule 5 draft is completely unpredictable… Last year I was sure Singleton and Dinkelman could be lost. No one knows, just giving thoughts and opinions. I thought Waldrop made sense for a team to take. The Twins were right, as they usually are. No harm, no foul. No biggy.
Seth –
Just to clarify I wasn’t referencing you in my comment. Others responded to the move with more “anger” as mww would put it. My post was more questioning their anger over the move rather than your prediction that they would / should protect him. I have nothing but the utmost respect for you and your site, Seth.
And mike, if you describe my post an anger, how do you describe your average post?
DH, not sure I’m angry, but I admit that my tone can be less than ideal. It is certainly something I’m striving to improve on. The biggest issue is probably my attempt to be brief…and the words that get left out.
I think frustrated would be the way to put it, but that is rarely, if ever, aimed at people as people, but the decisions/actions they make/take. I would never put the words down that I hate a person, but I would that I hate a move. That, to me, is a pretty big distinction.
but, like I said, I know my tone is not ideal, and I’m working on it, I really am. One of the things I am trying really hard to do is to make my comments about decisions/actions, not about people. I messed that up in my reply to you.
“I really am. One of the things I am trying really hard to do is to make my comments about decisions/actions, not about people. I messed that up in my reply to you.”
If you accomplish this goal, you are a better man than I. (Probably already are)
Hi Seth,
Time to weigh in on the past dealings. First of all, they did a terrific job on Hardy. Two pitchers with solid projection, plus they got Harris’ 1.2 million of the books, genius.
Now on to Waldrop. Sometimes you must forget stats. All the harping about him on the various Twins blogs lately totally missed the fact that the guy is just not that good of a pitcher. I wrote to you about watching him and that his stuff is very, very average, nothing crisp.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Diamond in ST. A LOOGY or long man?
The great thing about all this is that Terry Ryan’s name is all over it, have faith, he knows what he’s doing!