LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Although the Pirates will leave the Winter Meetings without making a free-agent signing, they added two pitchers in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft.
After selecting reliever Jordan Milbrath, a 26-year-old right-hander from the Indians, with the 10th pick of the draft, the Pirates acquired Nick Burdi, a 24-year-old right-hander who was selected with the third pick, from the Phillies for $500,000 in international signing bonus money Thursday at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.
By rule, Milbrath must remain on the Pirates' 25-man roster all next season or he must be returned to the Indians, but Burdi is expected to miss most of the season because of Tommy John surgery, so he can be placed on the disabled list.
A second-round pick of the Twins in 2014, Burdi is viewed as a potential major-league closer. Entering the 2016 season, he was ranked by Baseball America as the 10th-best prospect in the Twins' organization, but he has been limited by injuries since.
Burdi went 2-0 in 17 innings with one save, a 0.53 ERA, 20 strikeouts and a .161 batting average against this past season with Double-A Chattanooga before suffering the elbow injury.
In order to remove the Rule 5 roster restrictions, Burdi must serve 90 active days on the disabled list, but that time can carry into 2019.
"We do like the arm, we like the upside and are willing to carry him on the DL for a while, if need be," Huntington told reporters after the draft. "We're going to go through that process with him."
Burdi pitched only three innings in 2016 because of a rare bone bruise to the humerus in his pitching arm. His only full season of professional baseball was 2015, when he had a 4.52 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in 63 2/3 innings between High-A and Double-A.
It's somewhat of a low-risk move. The Pirates had $2,266,750 left in there international signing bonus pool, so rather than take a chance on a teenage prospect, they're gambling on a player who showed significant upside when healthy.
But by rule, teams cannot receive medicals on a Rule 5 candidate, so the Pirates do not have a clear understanding of Burdi's injury.
"The challenge is we just selected an injured pitcher and we know the risk that goes along with that," Huntington said. "We're optimistic that, like a good handful of Tommy John surgeries, he'll bounce back from it. We'll be patient with him. We need to gather a lot of information as we go through this process with him."
Milbrath had a 3.02 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 56 2/3 innings — 30 relief appearances — between High-A and Double-A this season, but he's never reached Triple-A. He had 63 strikeouts to 25 walks for an average of 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings and reportedly had increased velocity, throwing a 99-mph fastball with movement.
"With Milbrath, it was an [arm] slot change last year, the velocity spiked," Huntington said. "It's heavy, heavy sink. A very high ground ball rate. We like the slider, and we're intrigued by what he can become. He will come to camp with a legitimate chance to make our club."
Milbrath showed potential to be a strikeout pitcher as a starter earlier in his career.
In 26 starts in Low-A in 2015, Milbrath had 130 strikeouts to 46 walks. The Pirates do have a need for a relief pitcher — they've expressed interest in free-agent Jared Hughes — but Milbrath likely won't be an option to help the club in 2018.
Although Huntington said Milbrath will have a chance to make the roster, it's likely the club will have to send him to Triple-A, which will require them to pass him through waivers.
Teams can select an eligible, unprotected player in the Rule 5 Draft for $100,000, but that player must remain either on the team’s 25-man roster or major-league disabled list for the entire next season. If a team wants to remove a Rule 5 player from its active roster, the team must put him on waivers. If he’s claimed, the same restrictions apply to the claiming team.
If he clears waivers, the selecting team must offer the player back to his original club for $50,000.
The Pirates also selected Damien Magnifico, a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher, off the Angels' roster in the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 Draft. He's pitched in 3 1/3 innings in the major leagues over the past two seasons, most recently a 1/3 inning relief appearance for the Angels in 2017.
Magnifico, a fifth-round pick of the Brewers in 2015, was with three organizations this season, posting a 6.24 ERA in 53 1/3 innings with four different teams.
They also picked catcher Rafelin Lorenzo, a 20-year-old prospect of the Tampa Bay Rays, in the minor-league portion. Lorenzo batted .250/.291/.375 in 51 games at short-season A.
Players selected in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft aren't subject to any roster restrictions with their new organizations.
Additionally, the Pirates did not lose relief pitcher Yeudy Garcia, starting pitcher Tyler Eppler or shortstop Adrian Valerio in the draft.