Right-hander Manny Ramirez, another pitcher in minor league Rule 5 draft, added

NEW YORK — The Yankees picked up Manny Ramirez Wednesday.

No, things aren’t that bad that they added the 49-yearold former Red Sox slugger. This Manny Ramirez is a right-handed pitcher from the Astros organization that the Yankees picked up in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft.

MLB announced Wednesday that they expect to hold the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft when the union and league agree on a collective bargaining agreement. Players selected in that part of the Rule 5 draft immediately go on the 40-man roster and must be on the major league roster for the first full season. The minor league portion does not add to the 40-man roster and, like all minor league business, can continue during the lockout.

So Wednesday, the Yankees added two pitchers and lost one in the minor league Rule 5 draft.

Ramirez is a 22-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who had his 2020 season wiped out by the pandemic and did not pitch in 2021 because of an undisclosed injury.

The Yankees also picked up right-hander Steven Jennings. The 22-year-old spent last season playing on the Pirates’ A-ball and Double-a teams in Greensboro, Bradenton, and Altoona. A second-round pick out of high school in the 2017 draft, Jennings pitched to a 4.99 ERA and 1.392 WHIP in 74 combined innings out of the bullpen in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox claimed Brian Keller, a right-hander who pitched in Triple-a Scranton last season, from the Yankees. Picked in the 39th round of the 2016 draft, Keller pitched to a 2.77 ERA and a 1.608 WHIP in 26 games, including 11 starts (55.1 innings) last year.