Cincinnati Reds take a pair of catchers in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft and immediately trade one of them
The Cincinnati Reds took a pair of catchers Luis Torrens and Stuart Turner in the 2016 Rule 5 Draft.
The Cincinnati Reds selected New York Yankees prospect Luis Torrens with the second pick in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. They promptly turned around and traded him to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later and cash. That means they sold the pick instead of getting talent, unless the player to be named is a big time prospect.
Torrens was the 17th best prospect in the Yankees’ system. He looks to replace Derek Norris as the starting catcher, who the Washington Nationals traded for during the Winter Meetings. It will be difficult for Torrens to be the everyday starter in 2017 as he has never played above Single-A.
Torrens missed the entire 2015 season with a torn labrum, which is one of the injuries that Reds’ fans have watched Devin Mesoraco struggle through. Torrens, though, threw out 42% of the baserunners since returning from the injury. That is the same as before he injured his shoulder, so he is healthy.
Torrens will be combining with Christian Bethancourt, who plans on spending time on the mound in 2017. In that scenario the Padres still need an everyday catcher to hold the plans together. The Padres also drafted one player and acquired the top pick from the Minnesota Twins in the draft.
The Cincinnati Reds also added a third string catcher of their own in the Rule 5 Draft to back-up Tucker Barnhart.
In the second round of the draft, the Reds selected Stuart Turner from the Minnesota Twins’ organization. Turner is a defensive specialist who played in Double-A in 2016. He batted .239 over 97 games last season.
Turner was a third round pick of the Twins from the University of Mississippi in 2013. He has never played in 100 games in a season and has yet to reach 350 at-bats. He spent 2015 and 2016 in Chattanooga, apparently transitioning to organizational depth in the Twins’ mind.
The secret of Turner’s potential offense is two fold. First he bats .307 as a right-handed batter vs. left-handed pitcher. Turner is also a better batter when getting more at-bats which is unusual for a catcher.
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In the Triple-A phase of the draft the Reds selected Jose Adames from the Marlins. Both of the players that the Reds lost signed minor league deals earlier in the offseason. This is the most that the Reds did at the Winter Meetings.
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