Liking Gonzalez. Competition at SS and other infield positions only improves the team Not understanding the 1st pick though. You have the number 1 pick in Rule 5 and you take a pure reliever? Yes the bullpen last year was horrible. But given they are all risky pick ups why not select a player from a position who could contribute more?
Astros' baseball operations offer insight into Cruz, Gonzalez as Rule 5 picks Stephen Goff, Houston Astros Examiner December 8, 2011 DALLAS -- Rhiner Cruz was selected by the Houston Astros as the first pick of the Rule 5 Draft Thursday morning at the Winter Meetings. Cruz, 25, went a combined 5-3 with a 3.89 ERA over 71 2/3 innings in 44 relief appearances this past season at Double-A Binghamton and High A St. Lucie in the New York Mets' farm system. The hard-throwing right-hander continues to perform well this winter, posting a 1.29 ERA in 15 appearances for Gigantes (Dominican Republic). Houston will pay the Mets $50,000 for selecting Cruz. If Cruz doesn't remain on the Astros' 25-man (major league) roster for the entire 2012 season, he must be offered back to New York. "He has a power arm and a breaking ball that is improving," Astros assistant general manager David Gottfried said. "We know him fairly well since Rick Aponte is his pitching coach in winter ball. Rick said in addition to a great arm, he has good character and a strong work ethic. He throws 95-plus and hit 100 this winter. "We project him as a back of the bullpen-type reliever." Astros special assistant to the general manager Enos Cabell told Examiner.com on Thursday that the club selected Cruz since he may have a shot at sticking on the roster as a late-inning reliever. "We need more depth in the late innings and pitchers who can get the job done by closing games out for us," Cabell said. Cruz is 14-16 with a 3.44 ERA and 320 strikeouts over 340 innings in 215 games (one start) over seven career minor league seasons. Following the Rule 5 Draft, the Astros acquired shortstop Marwin Gonzalez from the Red Sox in exchange for Marco Duarte and cash. Gonzalez, 22, had been selected by Boston in the first round of the Major League phase of the Draft off the Cubs' Triple-A Iowa roster. Similar to Cruz, he must remain on Houston's major league roster for the entire 2012 season, or be offered back to the Red Sox. The Astros selected Duarte with the first pick in the Triple A phase of the Draft off the Colorado Rockies' Double-A Tulsa roster. "Gonzalez has above-average defensive skills," Gottfried said. "He's a switch-hitter and will play the season at 23-years-old. "He's having a real solid season in winter ball." Gonzalez is hitting .321 with 16 RBI and four doubles over 112 at-bats in 28 games for Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League. He split the 2011 campaign between Double-A Tennessee and Iowa, hitting a combined .288 with four homers and 39 RBI in 124 games. Jeff Luhnow, who was introduced as the Astros' new general manager Thursday during a news conference at Minute Maid Park, made it known that Gottfried and assistant GM/director of scouting Bobby Heck did well in making decisions for the Rule 5 Draft. Luhnow is pleased with the two new additions. "Rule 5 is a challenge," he said. "You have to keep a pick on your 25-man roster all year. I think that both of the players we selected have interesting upsides. The pitcher is a hard-thrower who has developed a better breaking ball over the past couple of years. We feel good about his chances to come in and really impress. He could possibly win a bullpen spot, but there are no guarantees, of course. It's an easy opportunity for us to take a guy our scouts are really excited about. "The shortstop is a young prospect in the Cubs organization. If you're a young shortstop in the Cubs organization, you are a little bit out of luck, since they already have a really solid young shortstop [Starlin Castro], who will probably be there for a long time. They left him unprotected. We saw that as an opportunity to bring him in and give him a chance to maybe make the team as a utility guy or an infielder. We'll see what he has." For the latest Astros news, click on the Subscribe button at the top of the page. Also, be sure to follow Houston Astros Examiner Stephen Goff on Facebook and Twitter, or email sgoff80@yahoo.com.
The guys the Astros got look fine, but I have to admit that I was hoping that they would end up with Pat Venditte. It would just be fun to have a pitcher that could throw with both arms. I know I'm oversimplifying the situation, but I've always felt that it would be a huge advantage if you had a guy that could do this.
FanGraphs on Rhiner Cruz: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/rule-5-draft-2011-rhiner-cruz-first-pick-houston-astros/
