DALLAS — Pitchers again dominated the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft at baseball’s winter meetings, comprising 11 of the 15 unprotected players who were picked Wednesday.
The Chicago White Sox, who lost 121 games this year, had the first pick and selected 24-year-old right-hander Shane Smith from the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
Smith was an undrafted free agent out of Wake Forest when he was signed by Milwaukee in July 2021. The 6-foot-4, 235-pounder has gone 13-7 with a 2.69 ERA and 203 strikeouts over 157 innings in 19 starts and 54 relief appearances through three minor league seasons.
There were 14 teams who made picks in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft of players left off 40-man rosters after several minor league seasons. Only the Atlanta Braves made two selections, doing so after making none since 2017.
Atlanta chose right-hander Anderson Pilar from the Miami Marlins with the 11th pick, and then took infielder Christian Cairo from the Cleveland Guardians with the 15th and final pick in the major league portion.
The 26-year-old Pilar was original signed by the Colorado Rockies as a minor league free agent in 2015 and has pitched in 213 minor league games that included 17 starts. He is 28-20 with a 2.86 ERA.
Teams pay $100,000 to take a player in the major league portion. The players must stay on the MLB roster all of next season or clear waivers and be offered back to their original organization for $50,000.
Six of the 10 players selected during the Rule 5 draft last December — five of them right-handed pitchers — remained last season with the. organization that selected them.
Right-hander Eiberson Castellano, the current minor league pitcher of the year in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, was taken Wednesday by the Minnesota Twins with the ninth selection. The 23-year-old Castellano split the season between High-A and Double-A, going 6-5 with a 3.99 ERA in 103 2/3 innings. He struck out 136 batters and walked 29.
The Phillies did get a right-hander with the 14th pick, the last of the first round, taking Mike Vasil from the New York Mets organization.
Two of the four position players taken by other teams came from the Detroit Tigers organization: catcher Liam Hicks and third baseman Gage Workman.
Miami drafted second after Colorado passed making a selection, with the Marlins then taking Hicks. Workman was taken by the Chicago Cubs with the 10th pick.