Royals pick reliever in Rule 5 draft before trading him to Yankees

By BOB DUTTON

The Kansas City Star

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DALLAS | The Royals pulled off a bit of misdirection Thursday in the Rule 5 Draft at the Winter Meetings by selecting a lefty reliever – an identified area of need – and immediately flipping him to the New York Yankees for $100,000. The draft-and-deal came roughly 12 hours after the Royals cleared space on their 40-man roster in order to make a selection by dealing infielder Yamaico Navarro to Pittsburgh for two minor-league players.

“It frees us up in our roster situation,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “That’s what we were looking for – the flexibility. That’s why we sold our pick today. This puts us in a position to continue to try to strengthen our 25-man roster.

The Royals used the fifth pick in the draft to select Cesar Cabral, who spent last year at Class A Salem and Class AA Portland in the Boston organization. The Yankees had the 29th pick and didn’t expect Cabral to drop that far.

Cabral, 22, was selected by Tampa Bay in last year’s draft but returned to the Red Sox after failing to make the Rays’ roster. He then went 3-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 36 games at Salem and Portland.

The Royals considered drafting and keeping Cabral, who is 16-23 and 3.61 in 132 games over a six-year pro career. He has also averaged 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

“We had a lot of opinions on him,” said Gene Watson, the Royals’ coordinator for professional scouting. “A lot of guys had seen him a lot. We just felt, where we were with our roster, we’d rather have the opportunity for something else later this winter.”

The Royals netted $50,000 in the deal since clubs pay $50,000 to draft a player. The available roster space allows the club to pursue a veteran utility infielder or a situational lefty reliever without making a corresponding roster move.

Potential utilityman candidates include Edgar Renteria, Mark DeRosa, Orlando Cabrera and Carlos Guillen.

The Royals selected left-handed pitcher Thomas Melgarejo, 24, from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Class AAA phase of the Rule 5 Draft. He was 4-2 with a 3.55 ERA last season in 49 games for Saltillo in the Class AAA Mexican League.

Watson said the Royals chose Melgarejo on the recommendation of Louie Medina, a special assistant to the general manager for player personnel. The pick came exactly five years after another Medina recommendation in the Rule 5 Draft: Joakim Soria.

“Louis thinks (Cabral) is better than a minor-league Rule 5 guy,” Watson said. “He’s got arm strength. He attacks hitters. Louie thinks he’s got a chance to be a major-league prospect.”

The Royals did not lose a player in any of the draft’s three phases.