Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington had two spots open on the 40-man roster, the No. 1 overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft and an infuse young talent into the major league roster.
“We wanted to be active with the first pick,” Cherington said. “We wanted to take advantage of that.”
The Pirates were not just active on Thursday with the first pick but by making a deal to get two in the top 10. They selected a right-handed pitcher in Jose Soriano from the Los Angeles Angels No. 1 overall, then traded the option of a player to be named or cash considerations to the New York Mets to add another after they took 21-year-old Luis Oviedo 10th overall from the Cleveland Indians.
Each player selected in the Rule 5 Draft cost the Pirates $100,000 and must remain on the major-league roster for the entire season or be offered to return to their original team for $50,000. The Pirates now have a full 40-man roster, but could make more changes if they decide to add a free agent.
Dating to the MLB Draft in June, the Pirates have added six pitchers since selecting infielder Nick Gonzales with the No. 7 overall pick. Cherington, however, said the club hasn’t prioritized pitching as much as it has taking the best players available.
“Spent a lot of time on a group of players, including some position players, went back and forth on a lot, did as much research and due diligence as we could and it just ended up where we had pitchers at the top of our list,” Cherington said. “So, I don’t think there’s a specific run towards pitching. I think it’s more that we’re looking to add the best talent anyway we can.”
We now have new scouting reports on the top 3 picks in today's Rule 5 Draft:
1. Jose Soriano (Pirates)
2. Brett de Geus (Rangers)
3. Akil Baddoo (Twins)Find them here: https://t.co/ZcBcQkGn6S
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) December 10, 2020
The 22-year-old Soriano, a native of the Dominican Republic, has a fastball that sits at 96 mph and has touched triple digits and an above-average curveball that he mixes with a changeup. He was ranked the Angels’ No. 13 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
#Angels prospect Jose Soriano in his first game since coming off the IL for the @BurlingtonBees: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB’s, 5 K’s. FB Velo Averaged 94-95 MPH. pic.twitter.com/gG10dozvLN
— Angels MiLB (@AngelsMiLB) August 23, 2019
Soriano is 11-20 with a 2.76 ERA and 1.303 WHIP in four minor-league seasons, and had a 2.55 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 77 2/3 innings for low-Class A Burlington in 2019, but missed the 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in early February.
“All reports we have say that his rehab is going well,” Cherington said. “He was rehabbing at the Angels’ spring training site until October, and had gotten pretty far with his throwing program. All reports are positive.
This is an exciting guy. Physical, really fast arm, high velocity, power breaking ball. He performed well at the in the Midwest League as a pretty young guy. Like with every young pitcher, there’s improvement to be to be made, working on control and command and that kind of thing. First thing is just to make sure he’s back in a good spot, health-wise.”
The Pirates view the 6-foot-4 Oviedo, who signed with Cleveland out of Venezuela for $375,000 in 2015, as a future starter who is most likely to serve in a multi-innings middle relief role this season. He throws both a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a curveball and a breaking ball that Cherington said “looks more like a slider,” in addition to a changeup, while playing winter ball in Venezuela.
#Indians 21yr old RHP prospect Luis Oviedo looked good last night making his Venezuelan Winter League debut. Now healthy his fastball velocity is back up to 97-98 mph.
– 2.0(IP) 1H 0R 0ER 0BB 2SO@Oviedoluis59 @CardenalesDice pic.twitter.com/aiF8jB1pVO
— Indians Prospective (@indiansPro) November 28, 2020
Oviedo is 17-18 with a 4.66 ERA (258.2ip/134er) and 265 strikeouts in 58 games (51 starts) during his minor league career. He was 6-6 with a 5.38 ERA and 1.38 WHIP, striking out 72 and walking 40 in 19 starts for Class A Lake County in 2019. He averaged 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 2017 and 11.4 in 2018, and was ranked Cleveland’s No. 25 prospect by MLB Pipeline.
One of my favorite pitchers for 2018 is 18yr old Luis Oviedo proved in 2017 ERA doesn't prove anything:
ERA (7.14) to FIP (3.74) E-F difference 1st in league (3.40)
AZL League Ranks:
1) SO/9 12.19
1) SO% 28.1%
2) SO 70
2) SWSTR% 34.8%
3) SO-BB% 19.3%
3) xFIP 3.70
4) FIP 3.74 pic.twitter.com/E6TBrdpoqY— Indians Prospective (@indiansPro) March 14, 2018
“This is a young guy who was probably one of the better prospects in short-season baseball in 2018 into the Midwest league in 2019,” Cherington said. “He fought some lower-back stuff, which we’re not concerned about in the long-term. It may have affected him a little bit last year. He seems to be fully past that and his stuff is back to where it was.”
He’s been pitching well against older players in Venezuela. He’s a guy (who) we feel could come in and compete for a job on our major league staff. We see him as a guy who has a chance to start, long term. In terms of 2021 on our major league team, probably more than likely it’s a bullpen role, but we’ll see.”
In the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, the Pirates selected right-handed reliever Shea Spitzbarth from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round. The 26-year-old Spitzbarth split the 2019 season between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he had a combined 89 strikeouts and 25 walks in 66 innings.
In the second round, the Pirates picked infielder Claudio Finol from the Cincinnati Reds. The 20-year-old from Venezuela, who has played second base, shortstop and third base, batted .218 with five doubles, four triples, a home run and 14 RBIs for Class A Dayton in 2019.
Dragons infielder, Claudio Finol, got 👆 for this snag last night! #Dragons20 pic.twitter.com/u6JnsTs28E
— Dayton Dragons (@DragonsBaseball) April 16, 2019
In the third round, the Pirates selected right-handed pitcher Jeffrey Passantino from the Chicago Cubs. The 25-year-old Passantino, a 40th-round pick in 2017, was 6-2 with a 3.03 ERA, 104 strikeouts and 14 walks in 36 innings over four levels of the minors in 2019.
The Pirates also lost one player from their system when the Chicago Cubs selected right-handed pitcher Samuel Reyes in the second round of the minor-league portion. The 25-year-old Reyes split the 2019 season between low-Class A Greensboro (1-0, 0.52 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings) and high-Class A Bradenton (1-4, 2.87 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 14 walks in 53 1/3 innings).
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .
Categories: Pirates/MLB | Sports
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Pirates select right-handed pitcher Jose Soriano from Angels with top pick in Rule 5 Draft - TribLIVE
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