Rangers lose a right-handed reliever in Rule 5 draft, but get one back in a trade
The Rule 5 draft Thursday morning saw the Texas Rangers lose a power right-handed reliever, select a right-handed starter, and then complete a trade for a right-handed starter who will be a reliever.
Confused? Here’s how it happened:
The Detroit Tigers selected Reed Garrett, a hard-throwing Rangers reliever who split his season in 2018 between Double A and Triple A, with the fifth pick, and the Rangers took Chris Ellis from the St. Louis Cardinals two picks later.
Afterward, the Rangers announced that they had traded Ellis to the Kansas City Royals and acquired Jordan Romano from the Chicago White Sox, who had taken him from the Toronto Blue Jays with the third pick.
In the end, the Rangers lost a reliever but gained another who has the ability to pitch multiple innings and whose stuff should play up as a reliever. Romano’s fastball sat in the lower 90s as a starter last year for Double A New Hampshire in the Eastern League but could sit in the mid-90s in shorter stints.
Romano went to Oral Roberts and was drafted in 2014, four rounds after the Rangers selected his battery mate, catcher Jose Trevino. The Rangers selected right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez from Oral Roberts in the first round.
“We’re going to give him an opportunity to win a bullpen spot,” Daniels said. “He certainly is capable of being stretched out and giving multiple innings. That’s the profile of the type of guy who’s been able to transition to the bullpen and been able to stick.”
Rule 5 rules require the selecting team to keep a player on the 25-man roster all season. If the player doesn’t make the Opening Day roster, he his passed through waivers. If he clears waivers, he must be offered back to the team that lost him.
That team can take the player back or work out a trade with the selecting team, at which point the player can be optioned to the minors.
Daniels isn’t expecting the Tigers to return Garrett, who was in big-league spring training in 2018 and struck out 61 batters in 61 2/3 innings in the minors. The Rangers were hoping he wouldn’t be selected, but they didn’t protect him last month from the Rule 5 so that they could have an extra 40-man spot.
“It should be a great opportunity for him,” Daniels said. “At some point you got to make some decisions and take some calculated gambles, and that’s what it was. Flexibility is important. It’s not about right this second. We’ve got to look at opportunities.”
The Rangers selected outfielder Carlos Tocci in the 2018 Rule 5 draft and managed to keep him on the roster all season. He is expected to start 2019 at Triple A Nashville.
They never got a chance to select former TCU closer Riley Ferrell, who went to the Miami Marlins with the fourth pick. Former TCU left-handers Tyler Alexander (Detroit Tigers) and Alex Young (Arizona Diamondbacks) were not selected.
This story was originally published December 13, 2018 at 1:16 PM.
