The Royals have acquired pitchers Brad Keller and Burch Smith in separate trades resulting from today’s Rule 5 draft. They were selected by Mets at #5 and the Reds at #6 in the Rule 5 draft, then acquired by the Royals for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The Royals passed with the 13th pick.
Brad Keller is a 22-year old right-hander from the Diamondbacks organization who posted a 4.68 ERA in 26 starts in AA last year, but with 111 strikeouts in 130 2⁄3 innings pitched. He had a very impressive walk rate in 2016 in High A at 1.6 walks-per-nine innings, although that spiked to 3.9 this year. About Keller, Baseball America wrote:
Keller took a step back in 2017 as the jump to Double-A showed his solid but not spectacular fastball didn't play as well at a more advanced level. His secondary stuff needs to develop further and his control took a step back, but the big-bodied righthander has shown three average pitches at times.
Burch Smith was selected from the Rays organization, but he has some Major League experience, throwing 36 innings for the Padres in 2013. He missed all of 2015 and 2016 with Tommy John surgery, but showed good velocity with a 1.65 ERA in three starts with AAA Durham last year after spending most of the season in High A. Baseball America ranked the 27-year old right-hander as the #1 Rule 5 draft prospect, writing:
Both at the end of the season at Triple-A Durham and in the Arizona Fall League, Smith sat 94-96 mph with his fastball, flashed a knee-buckling 74-76 mph curveball and showed a swing-and-miss 79-81 mph changeup. Though he’s 27 and has had serious arm health issues, Smith is major league ready and has the stuff to help a team as a back-end starter or move to the bullpen.
The Royals will have to keep both players on the Major League roster for the entire season, or offer them back to their original clubs. The Royals did not lose any players in the Rule 5 draft, despite leaving players like Frank Schwindel, Ryan O’Hearn, and Yunior Marte unprotected. They did add a player and lose two players in the minor league portion of the draft.
In the Minor League portion of the Rule 5 draft, the Royals have taken RHP Daniel Duarte.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) December 14, 2017
The Royals have lost 3B Wander Franco (Wilmington) and RHP Andrew Ferguson (NW Ark) in the Minor League portion of Rule 5 draft.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) December 14, 2017