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Major League Rule 5 Ignored

As Dr F noted, the Marlins weren't players in the Major portion of the Rule 5 draft.

Florida passed on making a selection in the Major League portion of the draft. Players taken in that phase come at a cost of $50,000, and they carry the stipulation of having to stay on the active roster for an entire season or be offered back to their previous club for $25,000.

"In this particular year in the Major League phase, we were looking for one of our needs, like we did with Uggla last year," Marlins vice president of player development and scouting Jim Fleming said. "We were looking for bullpen and center field, and we didn't see someone who we thought would be able to step in and do it every day, or even be a bench player."

The Marlins did have their eye on a couple of players but they had already been selected by the time it was their turn to draft.  So instead, the team decided to buildup the minor league depth through the Triple-A portion of the draft.  The Triple-A draft is less costly and is not as risky.

In the Triple-A phase, the Marlins were active, making three selections. Each pick comes at a price of $12,000, and they don't have any stipulations of having to to stay on the club's roster or be sent back to their previous team.

The Marlins obtained shortstop Josh Labandeira, pitcher Cristhian Martinez and outfielder Lorenzo Scott Jr.

I don't know much, if anything, about the three chosen ones but this tidbit about Labandeira did raise a concern.

In July 2005, Major League Baseball suspended him 15 games for violating the performance-enhancing drug policy (amphetamines).

Maybe he has been supplementing his income with a part-time job as a truck driver.  The Minors don't pay all that much, you know.  Or maybe he is so driven that he made one of those indiscretions of youth and now knows better.  Who knows, but his behavior bears watching.

If you would like to checkout the BIOs of the players, the Marlinpedia has some of the best ones going.

Josh Labandeira

Cristhian Martinez

Lorenzo Scott Jr.