GM takes a chance on a young arm
Atkins confident that Rule 5 pick Luciano can pitch in majors at age 19
A subdued stay in Las Vegas is not the norm but the Toronto Blue Jays’ four-day trip to Sin City proved rather quiet.
Thursday’s Rule 5 draft, the final event of baseball’s winter meetings, was arguably the most chaotic 40 minutes of the annual summit for the rebuilding club.
By the time the Jays used the ninth pick of the opening round on a surprise selection — 18year-old right-hander Elvis Luciano, a Kansas City farmhand — Toronto’s steadily improving system had taken a pair of sizable hits. The Jays lost Canadian right-hander Jordan Romano, their No. 28-ranked prospect, to the Chicago White Sox with the No. 3 pick and lefthander Travis Bergen to the San Francisco Giants with the eighth pick.
The White Sox traded Romano to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations.
Luciano, who was considered the No. 23 prospect in the Royals’ system, has never played above rookie ball, making him an unusual choice by Toronto given he must now remain on the team’s 25-man roster for the entirety of the 2019 season or be offered back to his previous club for half the $100,000 (U.S.) they paid to the Royals to select him.
He was only available because of a contractual technicality: Luciano’s original minorleague deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks, which he signed as a free agent in 2016, was voided after he failed a physical at age 16, the Royals told MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan last month. The Diamondbacks re-signed him to another contract with a lesser bonus, but he subsequently became eligible for each Rule 5 draft after that.
Luciano would be the youngest pitcher in franchise history if he cracks Toronto’s roster out of spring training as a 19-yearold.
A draft preview by industry expert Baseball America called Luciano one of the more promising prospects available in the draft because of his age but said he is “in no way ready for a big-league job and the lost development time would hurt him.”
Jays general manager Ross At- kins seems to believe otherwise. He told reporters in Las Vegas that the organization liked Luciano’s low-90s fastball, his feel for the breaking ball, his changeup and his delivery. His role next year, if he makes the roster, would likely be in the bullpen, with the possibility of starting in the future.
“We wouldn’t have taken him if we didn’t think he had the stuff to do that,” Atkins said of Luciano’s chances of pitching in the big leagues. The Dominican Republic native has a career 3.37 earned-run average in 133
2⁄ innings over two seasons in 3 the minor leagues.
Romano was left unprotected for a second straight year. The 25-year-old spent most of last season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, posting a 4.13 ERA in 25 starts.
Bergen, a reliever, split the year between the Class-A Dunedin and the Fisher Cats after missing the entire 2017 season following Tommy John surgery. He finished the year with an 0.95 ERA in 56 2⁄3 innings.
There were questions about the Jays’ decision to leave Romano and Bergen unprotected when players such as reliever Mark Leiter Jr. and Canadian outfielder Dalton Pompey remained on the roster. Neither Leiter, who was designated for assignment and replaced on Toronto’s 40-man by waiver pickup Oliver Drake, nor Pompey are expected to carve out a future with the Jays.
“We do a lot of second-, thirdand fourth-guessing,” Atkins said in Las Vegas. “We were aware of the risks and ultimately prepared for that.”
Toronto also selected righthanded pitcher David Garner from the Chicago Cubs’ Double-A roster in the Triple-A phase of the draft, and lost lefty Sam Moll to the Giants.