Rule 5 Draft Results

Posted on 10. Dec, 2009 by Corey in All, General Baseball.

With their 40-man roster full, the Cincinnati Reds decided not to participate in the 2009 Major League Phase of the Rule 5 Draft.  Instead, they passed when it was their pick, something that 13 other teams did also.  If you missed my article the other day on the Rule 5 draft, and need a refresher on what it is, please click HERE.

The Reds did have one guy plunked for their minor league system, lefthanded pitcher Ben Jukich.  Jukich was obtained along with Marcus McBeth from the Oakland Athletics for Chris Denorfia several years back.  The St. Louis Cardinals used the 16th overall pick to take Jukich.  Last season Jukich pitched for the Louisville Bats, going 9-6 with a 4.10 ERA.

Outside of watching him for a few innings in Spring Training, I have never seen Jukich pitch in a game.  I can not comment to much on his stuff or potential as a big leaguer, but find it hard to believe that the St. Louis Cardinals will be able to hold onto this guy in the major league bullpen for an entire season.  Purely a guess, but I think that we will see Jukich back with the Reds in Spring Training at some point towards the end.

I do remember two seasons ago at Spring Training in Sarasota, Florida, the Reds asking Major and Minor League veteran Chris Michalack to work with Jukich on his pick off move.  Michalack was known for having one of the best moves to first base in the game, and the Reds wanted Jukich to learn from him.

My favorite thing about Jukich is that we both share the same two loves, baseball and movies.  Each day in Spring Training, Jukich and I would meet in the mornings to discuss movies we saw the night before, or trade the new releases that we may have bought or rented from Blockbuster.  Jukich was always very pleasant to me, and I wish him the best with the Cardinals and hope he sticks.

The Reds did make a selection in the Double-A phase of the Rule 5 draft, being one of only four teams to do so.  They selected right handed pitcher Doug Salinas.  Salinas, a 21-year old, was picked from the Tampa Bay Rays system and pitched last season at Hudson Valley, in the New-York Penn League.  While there, he went 5-0 with a 2.61 ERA.

The Rule-5 Draft is the unofficial closing to the Baseball Winter Meetings.  As a whole, I would say the meetings were not as eventful as the past, but I still had a great time.  Please continue to check back for more stories about the meetings.