Rule 5 Draft Notables

Curt Garcia taken by the St Louis Smoke will be able to get the lefies out but will have some trouble with the righties. He has a decent sinker paired with a halfway decent curveball and change-up. If he can have a good coach with some patience and discipline he has a chance to be a good find. The Smoke's pen coach looks like he has the patience but his discipline is suspect.

Syracuse found themselves a gem when they drafted Willie DeSoto. He will be a terror on the basepaths when he gets on which indeed he will be doing vs righties. He's not a bad OF and perhaps can fill in at 2B to spell the starter. In syllogist fashion his major premise will be getting on base and his minor premise will be advancing on the base.

Julian Valenzuela has a chance to be a workhorse but will have to surmount his shortcomings in the pitch department. Hitters might get easily acquainted with his pitches, specially if they sit on the knucklecurve which figures to be his only good pitch.

Lloyd Griffith has a blazing curveball as funny as that sounds. He more than likely should be used as a LHS since he can only go 10 pitches per outing. If its vs lefties though they will be a good 10 pitches.


Kevin Morgan - See Julian Valenzuela above except with more homers(lots).

Derek Linton - See Willie DeSoto above(SYR) except vs lefties and more balls put into play.


Zip Sheldon projects to be a 40 HR and will be lucky to stay above the .250 mark. Either way a switch hitter who will be less vulnerable vs righties and will certainly drive in a lot of runs.

Benji Perez was taken midway through the 2nd round. A utility guy who can fill in at second and steal you some bases.

Junior DeSoto a RP hartford didn't protect goes to Salem. He will be dominant vs righties and has 3 decent movement pitches. A sinker, slider and curveball. He will need to work on throwing strikes though.

The project continues in Pittsburgh when they draft Jose Velazquez who has good 1-2 punch FB and curve. He doesn't discriminate, he likes facing righties just as much as lefties and has great velocity but will probably put more base runners on than desired.

The drafting of Philip Blackwell created a light Buzz in Salt Lake City. If he can reach his potential he will work wonders with the glove and should only be platooned versus left-handed pitching.

Looks like high contact hitters that can blaze the basepaths is the flavor of the year in season 6. With the taking of Richard McCarthy San Jose found themselves an all around player who will put the ball in play and can field the second base position. As wll as stealing you 40+ bases a year he looks to be a healthy guy but with that makeup may not reach his defensive potential.


We round out the draft with 3 more picks from Pittsburgh. Chili Smith a singles-master who will be mainly used versus righties and will add to the teams SB total. Hmmm sound familiar. This guy has Ozzie Guillen strength and SO ratio(o HR, 13/1 SO/AB(the latter is awesome). In tune with the economy and the best name in the draft Les House is a great addition to the battery. He will definitely keep the teams E.R.A low and will
pounce on lefties. With the final pick of the draft Pittsburgh picked up a backup SS in Olmedo Zapata.

Rule 5 Draft Winner: The Pittsburgh "Rule 5 guys" I mean Project. 5 noteworthy additions. I only have one suggestion for the Pittsburgh coaching staff. Get House, Smith and specially Zapata on a strength training program, maybe start them on something light, like 5-lb dumbbells. They already made a side-bet
the last guy to hit it out of the infield has to pay for dinner.

Honorable mention: San Jose

Rule 5 Draft Loser: Salem lost 6 players, including a few which could have lengthy ML careers.