Every year the Winter meetings end with the Rule 5 draft, although it is set up weeks before when players must protect those prospects that have had significant time in the system without being placed on the 40 man roster. This year, the Indians left quite a few qualified players exposed (as Justin Lada looked at last month), leaving open room on their roster to actually participate this year.
To Cleveland
Hoby Milner – LHP – Pick 15 – From Philadelphia
The Indians had stated that they were looking for more left handed pitching at the Winter Meetings, but seeing it come as a 25 year old AAA reliever from Philadelphia is a bit surprising. Milner split time between AA Reading and AAA Lehigh Valley in 2016, his 5th season since being drafted in the 7th round in 2012 (originally taken in the 44th round in 2009 by the Nationals).
In 49 innings this year in AA, Milner struck out 54 and walked just 12 while limiting home runs to 0.6 per nine. His walk and strike out rates stayed positive in 16 AAA innings, but his home run rate climbed, pushing his ERA to 4.50 during his limited time in Lehigh.
While all his home runs came against right handed batters, making his overall numbers look worse against the other side, he allowed a .230 average to LHH (striking out 27% of batters) and a .234 to RHH (striking out 29%) and he walked a lower rate of right handers as well. In the minors, he was used against right handed hitters slightly more often than left handers and there is a chance he may not be a straight LOOGY.
Given that the Indians already have Andrew Miller, they are likely looking for just one more match-up lefty to go earlier in games or in games that aren’t close enough to use the ace reliever. This means that Milner will likely be directly competing with Kyle Crockett for a spot in the bullpen as most of the other spots are already set.
As with any rule 5 pick, the Indians will have to keep Milner all year or offer him back to Philadelphia. My guess is that we will know by the end of Spring Training which will happen depending on who wins the second left hander job between him and Crockett.
From Cleveland
Anthony Santander – OF – Pick 18 (Rnd 2) – To Baltimore
Only two teams made two picks in this year’s rule 5 draft, the Reds, who picked second and took two catchers and the Orioles, who took Aneury Tavarez from Boston in the first round and Santander from the Indians in the second as all other teams sat out.
While the Reds will likely just pick their favorite of the two catchers next year and thus only have to find room on the 25 man roster, the Orioles have another out as Santander recently had shoulder surgery and can be placed on the DL for most of the season.
Santander was ranked #10 in our recent prospect rankings, but the voting for those was done before he had shoulder surgery and that would have likely effected his standing. Rather than being a solid right fielder, if this injury ultimately takes away from his arm strength, he could wind up at first base. Santander also hasn’t played above high A to this point (where he hit .290/.368/.494). While he had the best year of his young career in 2016, he is far from Major League ready and this injury will be a major set back. Had he stayed in Cleveland, he would have likely been expected to break into the Majors around 2019 or later, so it isn’t surprising he wasn’t protected for the Major League phase of this draft.
While there is little chance Santander could have stayed on the Orioles 25 man roster for the entire season, there is a better chance that they stretch out his time on the DL and rehab time until close enough to September he won’t be able to hurt them. He will have to spend at least 90 days on the MLB roster, but after one year in the system, a player belongs to his new team and can be optioned to the minors like any other young player. Using this strategy, the Orioles may have just stolen Santander for good. It’s also possible that they may just wind up helping him through the rehab process then giving the healthy outfielder back to Cleveland.
AAA Phase
The Indians would sit out the minor league portion of the draft, but that doesn’t mean they escaped unscathed as they lost four relievers of varying ability in the AAA phase.
Trevor Frank – RHP – Pick 2 – To San Diego
After a great campaign in his second season at Lynchburg, Frank pitched in the AFL for the Tribe this year with less exciting results, but he was taken with the second pick in the AAA phase, behind only Jose Adames of Miami. Frank was originally an 8th round pick in 2013 and at 25 in high A, has essentially lost his prospect status. Not in the Indians top 10+ MiLB relievers (according to our mid-season rankings), losing Frank doesn’t seem like a big deal right now.
Jon Fitzsimmons – RHP – Pick 5 – To Arizona
Easy come, easy go. Fitzsimmons was one of several independent ball players the Indians signed late in the minor league season. He only pitched 16.1 innings in Lake County with a 3.31 ERA, but an impressive 25 strike outs and .158 average against. At 25 in A ball, Fitzsimmons was a long shot. The Diamondbacks will certainly put him to the test quickly by skipping the next two levels and sending him straight to AAA.
Grant Sides – RHP – Pick 24 (Rnd 2) – To Arizona
The Diamondbacks weren’t done snatching up Indians relievers as they took Sides with their second pick in the draft. Sides was originally drafted in 2011 in the 12th round and has pitched up to AA with the Indians including participating in the AFL twice. The most recent season in Akron was one of his best with a 3.36 ERA and 69 strike outs in 61.2 innings. He may be more developed than Frank, but he is also two years older at 27 and, unless he’s going to turn into Scott Atchison or Jeff Manship in five years, the Indians won’t really miss out by losing him.
Nick Maronde – LHP – Pick 27 (Rnd 2) – To Miami
The Marlins took an outfielder from the Angels in the first round, then a pitcher from the Indians who used to play for the Angels. Maronde was purchased from Los Angeles in Summer of 2014 and has since toiled in Akron and Columbus. The Clippers have been using Maronde as a starter in Columbus, mostly to make up for the many pitchers who have been yanked from the rotation with little notice (like Cody Anderson in 2015 and Ryan Merritt in 2016). In this role, he was dreadful, posting a 1.54 WHIP in 2016 to go along with a 4.24 ERA in AAA. To be fair, this was better than his 2015 season, which was very similar to his 2014. Maronde was never going to make it to the Majors for the Indians, a true lifer in AAA and the Marlins may be able to give new life to his career, possibly by relegating him to the bullpen. Either way, this was far from a loss for Cleveland and now they may have to promote some starting pitchers a little faster than normal, especially after losing Toru Murata earlier in the off-season as well.
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