Winter meetings end with chilly draft

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Baseball’s annual winter meetings ended their four-day run in chilly Indianapolis with the annual Rule 5 draft. But the action inside the Westin Indianapolis ballroom where the draft was held was only slightly hotter than the temperature outside. And outside, it was 14 degrees.

Just 42 players changed teams in the lackluster three-phase draft, something major league executives blamed mostly on the shallow talent pool.

‘There was some activity at the major league phase but there was very little activity in the other rounds. That was more surprising,’ said Angels General Manager Tony Reagins, whose team lost a pair of minor league pitchers, right-handers Robert Cassevah and David Herndon, in the major league part of the draft. ‘Normally there’s more activity in the Triple A phase and the Double A phase.’

Cassevah went to the Oakland Athletics while Herndon, the final of 17 players taken in the major league portion of the draft, was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies. Dodgers outfielder Jaime Hoffman was the first player selected Thursday, going to the Washington Nationals, who immediately sent him to the New York Yankees to complete an earlier trade involving pitcher Brian Bruney. The Dodgers also lost outfielder James Tomlin to Texas in the Triple A phase of the draft.

The team also acquired a trio of players, getting former Phillies pitcher Carlos Monasterios in a post-draft trade with the Mets and former Red Sox lefty Armando Zerpa from Tampa in another deal. Both players were selected in the major league phase of the draft and were acquired for ‘cash considerations.’ In the Double A draft, the Dodgers took Giants’ outfielder Raul Burgos with the final pick of the day.

The Rule 5 draft was created to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on the rosters of their minor league affiliates. Teams are allowed to ‘protect’ a certain number of players, leaving the rest exposed for other teams to select for a $50,000 fee in the major league phase, $12,000 at the Triple A phase and $4,000 at the Double A phase. Players chosen in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft must remain on the selecting team’s 25-man big-league roster throughout the following season or be offered back to the team from which they were drafted.

Notable Rule 5 picks from recent seasons include two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana, now with the Mets, Marlins All-Star Dan Uggla and the Phillies’ Shane Victorino, who was left unprotected twice by the Dodgers, then went on to help the Phillies beat the Dodgers in successive National League Championship Series.

‘I think economics play a part in [the lack of action],’ Reagins said, pointing to this month’s deadline for teams to offer their major league players salary arbitration, after which non-tendered players can be selected for free. ‘There’s going to be opportunities here soon on the tender-deadline date. There’s going to be some more people out on the marketplace. So you’ll have to take a look at that.’

Florida Marlins executive Dan Jennings said one reason so few players changed organizations Thursday was because teams have been doing a better job of evaluating talent -- both the players they protect and the ones they may want to draft.

‘As an organization, you make better decisions, or more comfortable decisions, on the players you leave unprotected,’ he said. ‘There were guys that we checked on that had more baggage than a Mayflower truck. One thing that you learn the longer you stay: You have to respect the other organizations because they know their own better than anybody. Usually they’re [unprotected] for a reason.’

Added Jim Fleming, the Marlins’ vice president for player development and scouting: ‘This year [was] really reflective that everybody’s doing a better job of putting their guys where they need to be.’

For South Florida agent Gavin Kahn, however, a slow draft was not good news.

‘I would prefer to see my clients advance,’ he said. ‘If they’re blocked in a particular organization, I would like to see them get a chance to go to another organization.’

-- Kevin Baxter in Indianapolis