The Orioles completed their quiet week at the annual winter meetings in San Diego Thursday with the addition of two right-handed pitchers in the Rule 5 draft.
Executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette acquired pitcher Jason Garcia in exchange for cash considerations from the Houston Astros after he’d been selected fourth overall in the Rule 5 draft from the Boston Red Sox organization. The Orioles then selected right-hander Logan Verrett from the New York Mets organization.
The 22-year-old Garcia carries some intrigue as he was clocked in the high 90s while pitching in the instructional league this fall. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, Garcia went 3-2 with three saves and a 3.67 ERA in 56 1/3 innings between short-season Single-A Lowell and Single-A Greenville.
Garcia struck out 9.4 batters per nine innings and held right-handed hitters to a .189 average in 121 total plate appearances. The Orioles are expected to take a look at him as a relief pitcher during spring training, but keeping him would restrict their roster flexibility because of the need to keep him on the 25-man roster.
Originally selected by Boston in the 17th round of the 2010 amateur draft out of Land O’Lakes High School in Florida, Garcia has gone 15-16 with a 4.69 ERA in 73 minor league games (51 starts).
The 24-year-old Verrett went 11-5 with a 4.33 ERA in 28 starts spanning 162 innings with Triple-A Las Vegas in 2014. He went 28-13 with a 3.89 ERA in his three years in the Mets organization.
Verrett was originally selected in the third round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Baylor University.
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The additions of Garcia and Verrett mean the Orioles currently have 39 players on their 40-man roster. Garcia and Verrett would need to remain on the 25-man roster all season.
This marks the fourth straight year that Duquette has added at least one player in the Rule 5 draft, taking infielder Ryan Flaherty in 2011, left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland in 2012, and infielder Michael Almanzar last year.
In the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft, the Orioles selected outfielder and first baseman Sean Halton of the Milwaukee organization in the Triple-A phase.
