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.
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.
