Early Thursday morning, MLB teams participated in the annual Rule 5 draft, and the Chicago White Sox made a selection as they picked Dylan Covey from the Oakland Athletics.
Covey, who was the A’s fourth-round pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, only pitched in six games during the 2016 season at double-A Midland, posting a 1.84 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP in 29 innings of work.
Since the White Sox chose Covey in the MLB phase of the draft, it means that he will have to be kept on the team’s 25-man roster for the entire 2017 season. If the White Sox decide not to keep him, then they have to offer him back to the Braves before he can be sent down to the minor leagues.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs lost a player in the draft, as the Atlanta Braves selected Armando Rivero out of the team’s farm system with the fifth pick in the selection process. In 43 games at triple-A Iowa,
Rivero posted a sparkling 2.13 ERA and had a 5-3 record for the Iowa Cubs. He also racked up an incredible 14 strikeouts per nine innings and was one of the more intriguing pitchers in the team’s system.
The Cubs did add a player in the MLB phase of the draft, as they acquired lefthanded pitcher Caleb Smith from the Brewers, who took him with the ninth selection. Smith, a product of the Yankees' farm system, had a 3-5 record witha 3.96 ERA in double-A last season, and he averaged nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings in 27 total appearances.
The Cubs also made a selection in the triple-A phase, picking infielder Kevin Cornelius from the New York Yankees. The infielder has some pop, drilling six home runs in just 58 plate-appearances in rookie ball in 2016 and seven more when he moved up to high-A Tampa in the Yankees’ system.
Chicago Baseball
In order to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, a player must have signed with an MLB team at the age of 18 or 19, and they must have at least four (for age 19 players) or five (for age 18) years of experience in the minor leagues. If a player is on a team’s 40-man roster, then they are protected and cannot be selected in the draft process.
In total, 18 players were chosen in the MLB phase of the draft, with pitcher Miguel Diaz getting the honor of being the number one overall pick by the Minnesota Twins. The New York Yankees got hammered in the draft, losing four players in the MLB phase.
