Twins Select J.R. Graham In Rule 5 Draft
The Rule 5 Draft has commenced, and the Minnesota Twins have already made their pick. With the Rule 5 Draft allowing teams to select players not on the 40 man rosters of other Major League Baseball teams, the Twins were expected to be interested in a few names. They ended up selecting a right-handed pitcher in J.R. Graham, that many believed them to be tied to.
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Earlier this week, the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino reported that the Twins would have interested in Graham and that he was a target for the club. Having selected Scott Diamond previously from the Braves, the Twins ventured into familiar territory when that came to fruition today.
#mntwins take JR Graham from #Braves as expected
— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) December 11, 2014
With their Rule 5 pick, the #MNTwins selected JR Graham from the Atlanta Braves AAA Roster.
— Seth Stohs (@SethTweets) December 11, 2014
Minnesota was also expected to be interested in Delino De Shields Jr. but he was taken ahead of them by the Texas Rangers. The Twins also lost a player in Sean Gilmartin, who was selected by the New York Mets.
J.R. Graham is 24 years old and pitched at Double-A last year for the Braves. He has a career 3.37 ERA and has worked mostly as a starting pitcher. He sports a 6.9 K/9 ratio along with a 2.4 BB/9 ratio across his four year minor league career. Graham must be added to the Twins 25 man roster, and projects as a reliever out of the bullpen.
As the Twins only had one opening on the 40 man roster going into the day, look for a follow up move to be made should Minnesota end up signing Ervin Santana.
Today is the final day of Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, and the morning has been incredibly busy. Look for plenty more fireworks throughout the rest of the afternoon. The stove appears to be incredibly hot.