We Got Wood - 43.10 - Lumberjacks Swipe Two in Rule 5

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The BBA's annual Rule 5 draft was conducted today, yes Thursday, today, as announced by the League's Commissioner Matthew Rectenwald. The Portland Lumberjacks front office is pleased to announce the team did not lose a single player in the annual stealing of another organizations players but did manage to swipe two relievers from rival clubs in the Frick.

With the 5th overall pick in round 1, Portland selected Andino Bianchi from the Chicago Black Sox organization. Bianchi, a hard throwing lefty, has 4 previous seasons of experience in the BBA, all with Jacksonville dating from 2037-2040. During his time in the BBA, Bianchi went 6-4 with a save, 3.78 ERA, and 1.44 WHIP. He also posts a career 1.2 WAR and has never been in the negative in a single season. With all of that said, he's only logged 50 total innings over those 4 years. Here's what Wilson had to say on the selection:

"We love the pick-up of Bianchi. He hits 100 on the radar. Throws hard. Has good stuff and movement. At worse, he's a lefty specialist. At best, he comes in, logs innings, strikes out a lot of guys, and gives us some intel on what's going on over there in Chicago. They made the post-season last year despite all the odds. Something isn't right over there. It's more than some blueprint. I think they're pumping these guys with HGH or something. Bianchi will know and spill the beans."

In the second round of the draft, Portland took Jorge Alonzo from division rival Valencia. Unlike Bianchi, Alonzo has no big league experience, but looks a lot like Bianchi except he throws from the right side. Alonzo can also reach 100 mph with his fastball and has good movement on his pitches. Alonzo is built a lot like a righty specialist, countering Bianchi's lefty preference. Alonzo has posted some solid minor league numbers in recent years, posting ERAs under 3 the last two seasons with a positive WAR.

"We like Alonzo just as much as we do Bianchi" commented Wilson. "Both are hard throwing with good movement. Something you like to see from your bullpen. They are both prone to walk a few guys but finding a pitcher who doesn't have warts these days is difficult. You can either go low movement and high control and watch them serve up homerun after homerun. Or go with the guy who won't allow many of those but walk a few. It's a gamble these days. We'll take our gamble on Bianchi and Alonzo. If they don't work out, we can send Alonzo back to Valencia. We'll just send Bianchi down the river. That's how they do things in Chicago anyway!"