Cardinals Get Plucked In Rule 5 Draft

ST. LOUIS—On the eve of the Rule 5 draft, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said he didn’t expect to lose a player. He was right. The Cardinals lost eight.

It was an unprecedented pilfering for the Cardinals, who over about 60 minutes lost power-armed righthander Luis Perdomo and OBP monster Mike O’Neill to National League teams. During one amusing stretch in the minor league portion, the Cubs selected O’Neill and the Cardinals, jousting with the Cubs all winter for players, selected lefty Michael Heesch from the Cubs.

“When you look at the opportunity of the Rule 5, that’s exactly why that is,” Mozeliak said after the draft. “That’s why it exists. It’s to create roster movement.”

The Cardinals made a calculated gamble leaving Perdomo off the 40-man roster and, thus, available in the Rule 5 draft. Perdomo, 22, represented the Cardinals in the Futures Game and according to two evaluators who saw him there had the best stuff of any pitcher that day in Cincinnati.

The Rockies selected Perdomo with the fourth pick of the draft and then swiftly traded him to San Diego.

The Cardinals made their own move in the Rule 5, selecting a possible long reliever in Mets righthander Matt Bowman. Then they added depth for the seven players lost during the minor league phase.

In addition to losing O’Neill—who previously spent time on the 40-man roster and owns a career .412 on-base percentage in the minors—the Cardinals also lost righthanders Jhonny Polanco, Cory Jones, Kender Villegas, Fernando Baez and Juan Caballero; and shortstop Robelys Reyes. Retooling their depth continued through the winter—and was part of the Cardinals’ preference. They wanted to prune the rosters to clear the way for younger players.

REDBIRD CHIRPS

• Delighted by his impressive turn at Triple-A Memphis, the Cardinals re-signed outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker. The 28-year-old lefthanded batter had a slash line of .333/.403/.594 in 207 at-bats at Memphis.

• The Cardinals honored Alex Reyes as their pitcher of the year in the organization despite his season ending with a suspension for marijuana use. Stephen Piscotty, 24, received the player of the year award after reaching the majors and hitting .305/.359/.494 in 63 games there.