Dodgers add two arms to farm via Rule 5

Jon Weisman Blocked Unblock Follow Following Dec 8, 2016

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

To little surprise, the Dodgers didn’t add any players to their Major League roster through baseball’s annual Rule 5 Draft this morning, though they did pick up two pitchers for the minor leagues.

On the flip side, no team drafted anyone from the Dodgers organization in the Rule 5 Draft, which exposes players not on the 40-man roster who either were a) signed when they were 19 or older and have played in professional baseball for four years, or b) who were signed at 18 and now have five years of pro experience.

The Dodgers haven’t carried a Rule 5 draftee into April, much less through through the regular season, since Carlos Monasterios (a trade acquisition from the Mets) in 2009. Seth Rosin, a 2013 Rule 5 selection by the Mets for whom the Dodgers also traded, had a good Spring Training and even made the expanded roster for Australia, but ultimately was returned before domestic play began.

Starting pitcher D.J. Houlton was the Dodgers’ last true Rule 5 selection, way back in 2004.

The Dodgers entered the Rule 5 Draft with no spaces available on the 40-man roster, and though they could have made a move to create a vacancy, that’s now something they’ll save for future acquisitions.

Nevertheless, in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5, the Dodgers chose lefty pitcher Edward Paredes from the Tigers in the first round and righty Kyle Grana from the Cardinals in the second.

Edward Paredes

Paredes, a 30-year-old from the Dominican Republic, debuted in 2006 in the Mariners organization. Last year, he had a 2.27 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings for Double-A Arkansas (Rangers), after spending most of the previous three seasons with York in the independent Atlantic League.

Kyle Grana

Grana is a 25-year-old from Wildwood, Missouri who has spent his career in the Cardinals organization. In 2016, he had a 3.12 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 52 innings for Single-A Palm Beach.