Rule 5 Action,Giants trade Chris Heston!

The Rule 5 draft isn't as important as it used to be,but I always like to see who moves around in it and I've always written about it,so why stop now?!

The Indians made a selection and lost a player in the MLB portion of the draft,while the Pirates made a selection.
Cleveland selected a pitcher that I've seen several times over the years in 25 year old former Texas Longhorn Hoby Milner from the Phillies.
The lefthanded sidearmer could make the team as a situational LOOGY and his numbers at AA Reading last year were excellent.
Milner keeps the ball down and I could see him having a role in the Indians bullpen or possibly being good enough for the Indians to work out a deal with the Phillies to send him to AAA Columbus for more seasoning.

The Indians lost outfielder Anthony Santander to the Orioles in the MLB portion.
Santander hit .290 with 20 homers for High A Lynchburg last season,but outfielders from that level are usually very hard to for a full year on the big roster.
Santander does have an injury and that might make it easier to keep him around..
Santander is a decent prospect,but not a standout for the Indians,who have lots of similar outfielders in their system..

The Pirates tabbed Tyler Webb,a 6'6 lefty from the Yankees in the MLB portion.
Webb spent the last three years with AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre and could stick in the bullpen.
Webb was primarily a reliever before last season,when he got a few spot starts.
At 25,my guess is that the Pirates look at Webb as the Indians look at Hoby Milner-a guy that they could carry and use as a LOOGY...

The AAA phase of the draft saw the Indians lose a few pitchers,but few that would be a loss to the system.
In the AAA portion,teams pay an amount of money and the player selected becomes the permanent property of the system,unlike the major league portion.
The most interesting player picked was Trevor Frank,who was the second player picked to the Padres.
Frank pitched well as the closer for the High A Lynchburg Hillcats,but has never pitched above that level and turns 26 in June.
The remaining three were journeyman Grant Sides,who pitched well at AA Akron last year (Picked by Diamondbacks),faded former prospect Nick Maronde (Marlins) and former independent pitcher Jon Fitzsimmons (Diamondbacks),who was a surprise being picked after just 16 innings at Low A Lake County...

Pittsburgh lost three pitchers without a selection in the AAA phase.
Cecilio Pimentel (Braves) had a nice season at Low A West Virginia,but turns 24 in January.
Colten Brewer (Yankees) was a fourth rounder in 2011 that has struggled with injuries and never rose above High A and Josh Smith (Red Sox) is an organizational soldier that has been hit hard in two years at AA Altoona...

The San Francisco Giants didn't take a player or lose a player in any of the Rule 5 festivities,but they did make a trade as they traded Chris Heston to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later.
Heston won 12 games in 2015 and including a no-hitter,but pitched just five innings over four games in 2016 and looked to be the odd man out in San Francisco's rotation.
I wouldn't bet on anything more than a fringe prospect in return from the Mariners,but I'm sure Heston should at least challenge for a back of the rotation slot in Seattle...

I've been working on my trip to Indianapolis with Ryan,but I'm more likely to write about the death of John Glenn tonight.
Stay tuned....