St. Louis Cardinals News: Rule 5 picks, players lost

On Thursday the St. Louis Cardinals participated in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. Who did they take and who did they lose?

On Thursday, one of the fun events of the winter took place in the Rule 5 Draft. In the past, the St. Louis Cardinals have utilized this to take fliers on certain players, with some historically good MLB players having changed teams in this method in the past.

Ahead of the draft, the Cardinals had some tough choices to make but ended up protecting only young catcher Ivan Herrera and righty Angel Rondon.

For a breakdown of the rules, you can look right here to see exactly how the draft works.

Who did the Cardinals pick?

The Cardinals drafted 19th in the Major League phase of the draft, but chose to pass on their pick. Plenty of teams punted their first pick so that isn’t anything to get upset about. However, in the first round of the Triple-A phase of the draft, the Cardinals took Garrett Williams, a left-handed pitcher in the Angels organization.

Williams, 26, was a 7th-round draft pick in 2016 and was scheduled to be a part of the AA Rocket City Trash Pandas out of Huntsville, AL. In four MiLB seasons, Williams has a record of 18-24 with a 3.98 ERA. Drafted during the Minor League phase of the Rule 5, he doesn’t have to adhere to the same restrictions as any player drafted in the Major League phase, so Williams will likely serve as a depth arm at AAA.

Who did the Cardinals lose?

The Cardinals lost two players in this draft, but neither was in the team’s top 30 prospects. In the same round that the Cardinals took Williams, the Rays took Jordan Brink, a righty who never played a game in a Cardinals uniform after he was taken in the same round of the Rule 5 Draft by the Cardinals last year.