Rays Make Rare Rule 5 Play

ST. PETERSBURG—For the Rays to make a pick in the Rule 5 draft for the first time since 2010, they had to have a good reason.

Apparently, Kevin Gadea was good enough.

The 22-year-old righthander from Nicaragua had reached only low Class A Clinton in his four seasons in the Mariners organization, but the Rays believe the converted infielder has a chance to make what would obviously be a big jump.

“Our scouts saw him really good, and we’re excited to add him,” director of baseball development Peter Bendix said. “We saw him well throughout the (2016) season. He missed a lot of bats. We think he has a chance to help us in the bullpen.

“We’ll take him into spring training and kind of see what we have. He’s a young guy and there’s a lot of long-term potential there.”

Relying mostly on a fastball and changeup, Gadea went 4-1, 2.36 in 15 games between the Rookie-level Arizona League and the Midwest League in 2016. Control is an obvious strength. He struck out 95 and walked just 14 in 68.2 innings.

Bendix said the biggest challenge for Gadea may be internal. He must have the confidence to believe he can get big league hitters out despite his low experience level.

For their part, the Mariners liked what they had seen of the 6-foot-5 Gadea since signing him in 2012.

“He’s a prospect for sure,” Seattle assistant general manager Jeff Kingston said. “He came on strong this year for us . . . He’s been durable. We liked him.”

The Rays felt good about the Rule 5 draft overall. After losing two outfielders in the 2015 edition—Tyler Goeddel (Phillies) and Joey Rickard (Orioles)—they played stronger defense, adding eight prospects to their roster in 2016. Thus they didn’t lose anyone in the major league portion of the draft.

COOL RAYS

• Catcher Justin O’Conner, the oft-injured 2010 first-round pick, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham after being removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Wilson Ramos. The Rays also revealed that O’Conner had two back surgeries since the end of his abbreviated 2016 season and his prospects to play in 2017 are uncertain.

• The Rays selected two righthanders—Ty Hensley (Yankees) and Jairo Munoz (Phillies)—in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. Both are coming off elbow surgery.