The Dodgers did not select any players in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning, nor did they lose any. That was not a very well hidden secret as they had not cleared a spot on the 40-man roster which would have at least made them eligible to participate in the draft.

Eighteen players were taken in the draft with the Yankees losing four of them. Twelve of the 18 were pitchers.

The highlight of the day was the bold move by the San Diego Padres who owned the third overall selection and traded for the top two picks with the Twins and Reds respectively. With that trio of picks the Padres came away with right-hander Miguel Diaz from the Brewers, catcher Luis Torrens from the Yankees and shortstop Allen Cordoba from the Cardinals.

The minor league portion of the draft which is now at the Triple-A level only as the Double-A portion was eliminated in the recently signed Collective Bargaining Agreement. In all 39 minor league players were drafted in the three rounds of the Rule 5 Draft with the Dodgers selecting pitchers in the 19th and 33rd round. Twenty-five of the 39 selections were pitchers with former Dodger prospect Zack Bird going from the Atlanta Braves to the Texas Rangers.

In the first round the Dodgers selected left-handed pitcher Edward Paredes who had recently signed a minor league deal with the Detroit Tigers and was assigned to the Erie Sea Wolves of the AA Eastern League. In the second round, they selected right-handed pitcher Kyle Grana from the St. Louis Cardinals. Only four players were picked in the third round, none of them by the Dodgers.

Edward Paredes

The 29-year Paredes is a native of Villa Arriva in the Dominican Republic initially signed by the Seattle Mariners in 2007. After five years in the Mariners organization he moved on to the York Revolution in the Independent Atlantic League.

In his three season with York he established himself as one of the top left-handed relievers in the Atlantic League posting a three-year ERA of 3.00 with 152 strikeouts in 141 innings pitched and giving up 56 walks.

Paredes was signed to a minor league contract by the Angels for the 2016 season and logged 43.2 innings with the Arkansas Travelers of the Double-A Texas League. He posted an ERA of 2.27 and a WHIP of 1.05 while recording 54 strikeouts and walking 21 batters.

Most likely signed as a possible LOOGY, Paredes held both left-handed hitters and right-handed hitters to an identical .167 batting average in 2016. His strikeout rate was considerably higher against left-handers at 36.9 per cent while he mowed down right-hand hitters at a 23.4 per cent rate.

He has initially been assigned to the Oklahoma City Dodgers where he will most likely begin the 2017 season.

Kyle Grana

The 25-year-old Kyle Grana was born in Wildwood, Missouri which is very close to St. Louis. He attended Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky where his 247 career strikeouts rank second in school history and his 2.65 career ERA ranks third on Bellarmine’s all-time list.

His efforts were rewarded in 2013 as he was named to the Rawlings Division II All Midwest Region Second Team by the American Baseball Coaches Association and he was a First-Team All-Great Lakes Valley Conference selection.

The 6’-4”/245-pound right-hander was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2013. He progressed quickly through the Cardinal’s farm system literally destroying the opposition while posting an ERA of 0.89 with State College of the New York-Penn League in 2014 and an ERA of 0.78 With the Peoria Chiefs of the full season Class A Midwest League in 2015.

With the Chiefs he recorded 24 saves while striking out 69 in 57 innings and walking 32.

In 2016 Grana appeared in 43 games with the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals posting a 3.12 ERA while recording 63 strikeouts and 27 walks in 53.2 innings.

In his four years of minor league ball he has logged 178.2 innings and given up exactly two home runs, both in 2016.

Kyle Grana will most likely be a bit disappointed to not be able to play for his home town Cardinals but he has initially been assigned to the Triple-A Oklahoma Dodgers for the 2017 season, moving him two steps closer to The Show.