Rays Rule 5 Draft Notes: Tyler Goeddel as Good as Gone

The Rays do not have a deep past when it comes to the Rule 5 draft. They rarely make selections, and more often than not, they have one of their players selected. Still, we’ll look at who may be interesting to the team as the draft takes place today.

Jim Callis of MLB.com predicted that Tyler Goeddel would be the first Rule 5 draft selection made by the Philadelphia Phillies who hold the 1st overall pick. He also notes the following as possible selections:

Jabari Blash, OF, SEA
Reymin Guduan, LHP, HOU
Zach Jones, RHP, MIN
Roberto Pena, C, HOU
Luis Perdomo, RHP, STL
Nick Sarianides, RHP, ARZ

The Rays select 14th overall, so there’s a good chance at least one of these players would be available to them. Of those listed above, I would put Perdomo and Jones at the top of the Rays list, particularly if they intend on dealing some pitching before the season begins.

But I have a few interesting players to add to the list.

Chris Devenski, RHP, HOU – 25 years old

Threw 119 inning last year in AA, his second at that level, maintaining an impressive 3.01 ERA and decent 1,253 whip. He’s a workhorse with off-the-charts makeup that would make for an interesting addition to the Rays pitching depth.
Most interestingly for the Rays, he managed a .210/.267/.296 vs LHB and already has experience pitching out of the pen, where he managed a .189/.243/.274 line. The Rays could keep him in the pen, develop him into a long-reliever with the chance of joining the rotation down the road.
Chris is currently the 18th best Astros prospect, as per MLB.com

Ivan Pineyro, RHP, MIA – 23 years old

This is my personal favourite selection for the Rays. He’s ready to start in 2016 and has little left to prove in the minors. He kept hitter at a .252/.307/.361 line while pitching 26 games in AAA. What’s most impressive about Pineyro is how evenly effective he is vs LHB (.263/.305/.397) and RHB (.244/.308/.366), he’s able to better his offerings with runners on (.238/.287/.383), and finally he managed his best outings at the end of the year when he threw 6 innings once, 7 innings twice, and a 8 inning shutout gem. This as he threw more innings (146) than ever before in his career. The show of strength at the end of the year really indicates how much of a workhorse he can become and how he wasn’t close to be tired at the end of the season.

Next: Rays Lose Butler, Gain Opportunity for Mahtook

It’s hard to imagine the Rays making a selection in this year’s Rule 5 draft, I have to admit that. The team’s lack of a history of making selections speaks for itself. However, there are a few intriguing names to keep an eye on and you just never know when the Rays will decide to play the Phillies card and see what comes out of it. By far the most successful team in the rule 5 draft, the Phillies will lead the way and may select Rays OF Tyler Goeddel. We’d be sad to see his potential go, but would likely get to watch him thrive in Philadelphia in 2016 if he kept onboard.