DALLAS – Pitchers once again dominated the big league phase of the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings, comprising 11 of the 15 unprotected players picked Wednesday.
The 121-loss Chicago White Sox had the first pick, selecting 24-year-old right-hander Shane Smith from the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
Smith was an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest when he was signed by Milwaukee in July 2021. The 6-foot-1, 235-pounder has gone 13-7 with a 2.69 ERA and 203 strikeouts in 157 innings in 19 starts and 54, relief appearances over three minor league seasons.
There were 14 teams that selected in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft of players who left the 40-man rosters after several minor league seasons. Only Atlanta made two selections, after not making any since 2017.
Atlanta selected right-hander Anderson Pilar from the Miami Marlins with the 11th pick, then acquired infielder Christian Cairo from the Cleveland Guardians with the 15th and final pick in the MLB portion.
The 26-year-old Pilar was signed by Colorado as a minor league free agent in 2015 and appeared in 213 minor league games, including 17 starts. He is 28-20 with a 2.86 ERA.
Teams pay $100,000 to place a player in the Major League section. The players must remain on the big league roster throughout next season or be waived and returned to their original organization for $50,000.
Six of the 10 players selected in last December’s Rule 5 draft – five of which were right-handed pitchers – stayed with the organization that selected them last season.
Right-hander Eiberson Castellano, the current minor league pitcher of the year in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, was taken by Minnesota with the ninth selection on Wednesday. The 23-year-old Castellano split the season between High-A and Double-A, going 6-5 with a 3.99 ERA over 103 2/3 innings. He had 136 strikeouts and 29 walks.
The Phillies did get a right-hander with the 14th pick, the last of the first round. They took Mike Vasil from the New York Mets organization.
Two of the four position players taken by other teams came from the Detroit Tigers organization: catcher Liam Hicks and third baseman Gage Workman.
Miami came in second after Colorado passed making the roster, and they took Hicks. Workman was taken by the Chicago Cubs with the 10th pick.
