Baseball America has just posted the results for the Rule 5 Draft.
Players Acquired: RHP Luis Perdomo (MLB Phase, drafted from Cardinals), LHP Matt Yourkin (AAA Phase, drafted from Marlins)
Players Lost: OF Ben Copeland (MLB Phase, drafted by Athletics), C Elio Sarmiento (AAA Phase, drafted by Rangers), 2B Kyle Haines (AAA Phase, drafted by Phillies).
The Giants picked up two pitchers in Perdomo and Yourkin and lose a couple of position players in Copeland, Sarmiento, and Haines. Let’s see what the Giants got.
Luis Perdomo is a 24-year-old 6′ tall right-handed reliever from the D.R. He started 2008 in the Indians organization but was traded to the Cardinals for pitcher Anthony Reyes. He pitched across two levels, A+ and AA, this year. While with the Indians he played with the A+ Kinston team and in 37.1 IP, he struck out 42 hitters and walked 15. That’s good for a K% of 29 and a BB% of 10.3. He was then moved to AA Akron and pitched another 15.1 innings — K% of 27.5 and a BB% of 7.5 — before landing in AA Springfield and the Cardinals organization in the Reyes trade. He pitched 15.1 innings for Akron and continued to post a strong K% of 27.
BA described his pitching arsenal as:
Despite being old for his level, the 6-foot, 170-pound Perdomo offers an intriguing package coming out of the bullpen, seeing as he has two pitches that grade out as at least plus. His fastball sits at 94 mph and touches 95. His slider might be his best pitch, though, as it’s a hard 86-88 offering with good tilt that has proven to be lethal against righthanded batters. Perdomo has a loose, quick arm with clean arm action.
He sounds like your classic righty with good velocity, but with a few control problems. He’ll fit right in with our relievers. He pitched briefly in the Dominican Winter League but only threw 4 innings in November and has yet to throw again. He might stick with the Giants, and he might not. The rules of the Rule 5 Draft state that you must keep the player on your 25-man roster for the entire season or send him back to the original team — along with the money that the pick cost.
LHP Matt Yourkin was taken in the AAA Phase from the Florida Marlins. Yourkin is a 27-year-old left-handed pitcher who signed with the Marlins in 2003 as an undrafted free agent. I couldn’t find any scouting report on him but he looks like your typical AAA reliver. Over 5 minor league seasons he owns a 4.15 ERA to go with a 8.6 K/9 and a 3.6 BB/9. He should help pad out the Grizzlies roster next season.
The Giants lose — that is if the A’s keep him — OF Ben Copeland. Copeland was the top-pick of the Giants in the 2005 draft when they took him in the 4th round. If you’ll remember, the Giants didn’t get to pick that year until the 4th round because of the Mike Matheny, Omar Vizquel, and Armando Benitez signings. Copeland can play an adequate CF and he could also see time in the corners making him a nice 4/5th OF option to have. He’s excelled against RHP in his minor league career — career line of: .300/.385/.454 — but has struggled to hit lefties — career line of: .240/.318 /.337. The fact that he struggles so bad against LHP limits him to the 4/5th OF role but he can play all three OF positions and handle RHP well enough. He could stick with Oakland in a reserve role.
In the minor league phase, the Giants lost 2B Kyle Haines and C Elio Sarmiento. Haines is a 25-year-old second baseman who’s never played beyond AA Connecticut. He was drafted in the 31st round of the 2004 draft. Elio Sarmiento is a 22-year-old catcher out of Venzueala. He played most of 2008 for San Jose and over three minor league seasons he’s hit a combined: .234/.308/.316. No word on how good defensively he is. Neither Haines or Sarmiento figured into the Giants future plans, both will be minor league depth for their new organizations.
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E: And it appears that Merkin Valdez is injured again. Baggs is reporting that Merkin is going to undergo forearm surgery on this coming Monday. He should be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Guy just can’t stay healthy.
