Rule 5 Draft: Blue Jays Summary

The Rule 5 draft is never exciting, though, sometimes, years later, you can look back and say there was the odd good player who changed teams. Back when the Jays didn't have much talent in their system they put the draft to good use.

This year we didn't take or lose anyone in the Major League portion of the draft.

In the Triple-A part we lost Mark Sobolewski, who I was surprised wasn't protected. He was a 4th round draft pick in 2008. There was hope he'll develop power and he did, but never developed much of an eye at the plate. Last year he hit .249/.286/.432 with 20 home runs in 94 games at New Hampshire and 23 in Vegas.

We picked:

• Sawyer Carroll, an outfielder, from the Padres. He's 26, the Padres picked him in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft. He played at Triple-A Tucson last year, hitting .263/.337/.401, with 10 stolen bases. He looked a little better the year before in Double-A San Antonio, hitting .267/.352/.463. He can fill a minor league outfield spot.
• Alvido Jimenez, a RHP, from the Cubs. He's just 21, from the Dominican Republic. He played in Rookie Ball last year, 2.64 ERA, in 30.2 innings, mostly in relief, 7 walks 30 strikeouts. He's averaged 8.3 strikeout s per 9 innings in his 4 minor league seasons.
• Efrain Nieves, a LHP, from the Tigers. He's 23, from Puerto Rico, a 7th round pick from 2007. Last year he played in low-A and had a 2.79 ERA in 42 innings, all relief. 8 walks, 42 k. In his 6 minor league seasons he's struck out 8.0 per 9 innings. He cut down on his walks a lot last year.

And that was it for the Jays in the Rule 5 Draft this year.