This time, as with most times, the Rule 5 draft of Jorge Jimenez didn't work out.
...the Marlins determined Jimenez wasn't part of their plans, so they have decided to cut ties with the 25-year-old third baseman.
On Sunday morning, the Marlins offered Jimenez back to the Red Sox.
Jimenez joined the Marlins at the Winter Meetings in December. To complete the Matt Lindstrom trade with the Astros, Houston picked Jimenez in the MLB phase of the Rule 5 Draft, and then sent him to Florida. Now, for Lindstrom, the Marlins have received lower-level pitching prospects Robert Bono and Luis Bryan.
If the Red Sox don't want him back, and he clears waivers, the Marlins can assign him to the minors. All of that probably won't happen. Though it could.
With a Rule 5 draft player he must be kept on the Major League roster all season and the Marlins just don't have the space for a 3rd baseman. This means, more than likely, Jorge Cantu will be the third baseman and Gaby will be the first baseman to start the season. Not really surprising, but it wasn't a bad idea to see if Jimenez could give the club some immediate return on the Lindstrom trade. It just didn't work out.
If the Red Sox want him back, the Marlins are out $25,000 for the experiment. But hey, you put your money down, roll the dice and take your chances. A Rule 5 draftee is like playing a hop bet in craps, most of the time it doesn't work out. But every once in a while, you get lucky.