Versatile outfielder, reliever join roster

LAS VEGAS — Fourteen players changed teams in the major-league portion of Thursday’s Rule 5 draft, the final event of the 2018 winter meetings. The Giants selected two of the 14, which is unprecedented.

The Giants rarely select more than one minor-leaguer in the Rule 5 if they participate at all. In past years, they would come to the meetings with their 40-man roster already full, or close to it.

They purged their 40-man roster this fall and had six openings as the meetings began, a sign that new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi believed he could get several prospects from other teams better than the ones the Giants already had.

The two selections Thursday were left-handed reliever Travis Bergen, selected off the Blue Jays’ Triple-A roster, and outfielder Drew Ferguson from the Astros.

Bergen, 25, had an 0.95 ERA in 43 games for Toronto’s highClass A and Double-A teams in 2018, a great rebound from Tommy John surgery in late 2016. He struck out 74 in 562⁄3 innings. His swing-and-miss rate is double the major-league average, said Giants executive Jeremy Shelley.

“He’s a two-pitch guy with swing-and-miss stuff,” Shelley said. “I think we’ve got a potential bullpen guy from the left side.”

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said Bergen does not throw hard, about 93 mph, but fools hitters with a deceptive fastball.

Ferguson, 26, fits a common profile among the minorleague outfielders whom Zaidi has added. He plays all three positions, has a career .393 on-base percentage and walks a lot. In 292 plate appearances for Triple-A Fresno last year, he hit .305 with a .436 on-base percentage. He does not have a power bat, with a .429 slugging percentage.

Under Rule 5, the Giants acquired the players for $100,000 each and must keep them on their 25-man roster the entire season, or else offer them back to their original teams for $50,000.

The Giants did not lose any players in the big-league portion of the draft. They did lose three in the minor-league portion: outfielder Jeffrey Baez (to the Twins) and pitchers Ian Gardeck (Rays) and Dusten Knight (Diamondbacks).

Gardeck was a 16th-round draft pick in 2012 who became a solid prospect. He threw in the high 90s until Tommy John surgery derailed his career in 2016.