Blue Jays Lose Six in Rule V Draft

The Toronto Blue Jays lost RHP Steven Andrade and Jamie Vermilyea Thursday morning when they were selected by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Boston Red Sox in the Rule 5 Draft. The Jays also lost Eugenio Velez, Jayce Tingler, Joey Reiman and Dewon Day in the minor league portion of the draft.

The Devil Rays selected the 27-year-old Andrade with the third selection. Andrade went 3-2 with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in 35 games posting an ERA of 1.97. In 50.1 innings, Andrade issued 23 hits, 16 walks and struck out 71 batters.

The Jays sent Andrade to pitch in the Arizona Fall League after the minor league season was completed. The right-hander made ten appearances and struck out 23 batters in 13 innings of work. Andrade also pitched in two games for Team USA this fall and struck out three in 1.1 innings.

The Boston Red Sox went on to select RHP Jamie Vermilyea later in the first round. Vermilyea went 3-3 with a 2.60 ERA in 31 games with the Fisher Cats. The right-hander then received a promotion to the Syracuse Sky Chiefs on July 15 and went 3-0 with a 5.60 ERA.

The Blue Jays 40-man roster was filled at 40, and therefore could not make a selection. A player taken in the Major League phase of the draft costs $50,000 and has to remain on the selecting team's 25-man roster all season or be offered back to the original team for $25,000.

In the Double-A segment of the draft the Blue Jays lost second baseman Eugenio Velez when he was selected by the Giants organization. The 23-year-old Velez began the season in extended spring training, but was promoted to Lansing of the Midwest League on June 14 when Juan Peralta went on the disabled list. Velez finished the season with a .285 batting average, four home runs and thirty-four runs batted in. The 23-year-old batted .345 (19-55) over his first fourteen games with the Lugnuts, and .298 (28-94) over his next twenty-seven games. However, Velez struggled in August batting just .238 (19-80).

Jayce Tingler was the fourth member of the Blue Jays to be selected when the Texas Rangers picked him up. Tingler, who has the nickname "on-base Jayce" by the organization batted .265 with the Dunedin Blue Jays. The 25-year-old walked 53 times this year with an on-base-percentage of .353.

In the fourth round of the Double-A phase, the Devil Rays selected their second member of the Blue Jays organization as they took catcher Joey Reiman. The 24-year-old batted .294 with five home runs and thirty-six runs batted in with the Dunedin Blue Jays this past season.

In the first round of the Class-A phase the Chicago White Sox selected RHP Dewon Day from the Blue Jays. Day logged 13.1 innings with Lansing this season and issued 15 hits, 9 walks and struck out 14 players. Since entering the system in 2003, Day has thrown just 71.2 innings. The Blue Jays selected the 25-year-old in the 26th round of the 2002 draft, but did not sign until June 1, 2003.

The Blue Jays had 32 players on their Syracuse roster but decided to pass and didn't make a selection in the minor league portion. Any team with less than 38 players could have made a selection in the minor league portion of the draft.

The Blue Jays also passed in the Class-A portion of the Draft.

The fee for players selected in the minor league portion of the draft is $12,000 (Double-A segment) and $4,000 for the Class A portion.

It was later announced that the Devil Rays sent Steven Andrade to the Padres for cash considerations.