Indians Lose Josh Martin in Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 draft began at 10 am this morning in Nashville and was over quickly (less than 15 minutes) after it had begun with the Indians minor league system one player lighter. As the Indians came into the draft with a full 40 man roster, they were unable to make a selection of their own in the draft.

Indians right handed pitcher, Josh Martin was taken 8th in the first round by the Padres, one of 16 players taken total and one of three or four players the Indians feared losing. Staying with the team, but not on the 40 man roster are Jeff Johnson, Luis Lugo, Dorssys Paulino and others who were eligible. The fact that a team must roster the player for an entire season likely scared teams away from the latter two as they have never played above Advanced A. Johnson, on the other hand, pitched extremely well in both AA and AAA last year and as a back-end reliever, would have been easy for some team to stash on their MLB roster. Chances are the Indians will for at least some time during the 2016 season.

Back to Martin, he does have to spend the entirety of 2016 on the Padres MLB roster, so there is a chance the Indians could get him back, but it shouldn’t be too hard for them to keep him around. He posted a 2.27 ERA in 67.1 innings with 80 strike outs in Akron last year, numbers largely overshadowed by Johnson’s great season as the closer. In his minor league career, he has a 9.2 K/9, 2.6 BB/9 and 3.31 ERA.

It wasn’t until 2014 that Martin really stood out as a player, making the jump from A+ Carolina to AA Akron. He is yet to play a single inning in AAA or the Majors, but in general, the jump from AA to the Majors is considered the smallest for a player to make when considering skipping any particular level.

As stated, Martin could be on his way back to Cleveland as early as Spring Training if he is cut early, but chances are the Indians should say their permanent good-byes. Questionable players who were held onto instead of Martin (who was known as a high risk player to expose to the draft) include catcher Tony Wolters, first baseman Jesus Aguilar and outfielders James Ramsey, Zach Walters and Jerry Sands. These are players well behind in their development or those who have been given a slight chance in the Major League and are obviously not realistic MLB options for Cleveland. If any moves are made in the following months, one or more of these players will need to be released anyway, but rather do that in anticipation of the draft, the Indians lost Martin instead.

In the end, it isn’t that big of a deal outside of the fact that the Indians could use a reliever like Martin in the Majors in 2016 while Wolters in particular won’t likely be ready for years, would probably not have been selected if placed on waivers or exposed to the draft and may never make the changes necessary for a Major League career at all.

Minor League Rule 5

In the AAA phase of the Rule 5 draft, the Indians selected Brian Moran from Seattle, a 26 year old left handed reliever. He has never played in the Major Leagues, although he was selected in the Major League Rule 5 draft after his 2013 season, but had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2014. Returning last year, he pitched in Advanced A and AA for Seattle, posting a 3.24 ERA in 27 appearances with 29 strike outs and 33.1 innings.

While he doesn’t appear to be a superstar in the making, he is considerably younger than much of the 2015 Columbus Clippers pitching staff and could easily fit as a LOOGY in their bullpen this year. Especially since they don’t need to have room for Martin anymore.