January 1, 2036
The 2035-26 BBA Rule 5 Draft is in the books. For the Las Vegas Hustlers, they saw two of their minor leaguers get a shot at the bigs with other organizations while drafting none in the process.
Did the Hustlers lose anyone of value? Let's examine:
Valencia Stars: Drafted RP Freddy Bello in the 2035 Rule 5 Draft (Round 1, Pick 4, 4th overall Pick), from the Las Vegas Hustlers.
Bello, 24 years old, was a minor league free agent who had been with the San Fernando organization and was just signed to a minor league deal with the Hustlers on December 9, 2035. Vegas did see some potential in the right hander, but not enough to protect him on their deep 40 man roster. This is a young pitcher who will get a decent shot at the bigs with Valencia, and that is exactly what the Rule 5 Draft is designed for. Rooting for you, Freddy!
Des Moines Kernels: Drafted RP Jaime Moreno in the 2035 Rule 5 Draft (Round 4, Pick 11, 101st overall Pick), from the Las Vegas Hustlers.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Bello is soon to be 34 year old lefthander Moreno. He does have four years of big league experience with Huntsville (2030-2033) but has spent the last two years at the Triple A level (2034 with Huntsville, 2035 with Las Vegas). Although Moreno performed admirably for the Hustlers' AAA Milwaukee club last year (23 G, 3.26 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 58 IP) he did not figure in the Hustlers big league plans and so we are glad to see him getting another chance to crack a BBA roster, this time with Des Moines.
