San Francisco Giants: Rule 5 pick Dany Jimenez has a chance to stick

The San Francisco Giants selected minor-league reliever Dany Jimenez in Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft and the young right-hander has a chance to stick.

The San Francisco Giants continue to stick to the organizational philosophy of adding young talent through outside-the-box means. And on Thursday, they did just that selecting right-hander Dany Jimenez in this year’s Rule 5 Draft.

Just as a quick refresher, the Rule 5 Draft is conducted during the league’s Winter Meetings every year and teams have the option to select minor-leaguers from other teams who fit the required criteria to be on their active rosters for the season.

More from San Francisco Giants

Without reciting the specific criteria, just know that these players spend a handful of years in the minors and rarely progress past a certain level. After all, they can’t be protected on their team’s 40-man roster or else they aren’t eligible.

Any player selected must remain on their new team’s active roster for the entirety of the season, although they can spend time on the Injured List. For a full explanation and list of nuances, you could click here.

The Giants selected two players in the Rule 5 Draft last season — only one of which made the Opening Day roster. Houston Astros outfield prospect Drew Ferguson was returned to his team after a poor showing in Spring Training.

But the Giants did at least manage to get some production out of Toronto Blue Jays reliever Travis Bergen. However, the young reliever battled a shoulder injury and was ultimately returned to Toronto in August after being designated for assignment.

That said, Jimenez has a chance to be better than both Bergen and Ferguson.

The Giants once again dipped into the Blue Jays farm system and selected the hard-throwing righty in this year’s draft and many analysts had Jimenez as one of the best talents in the draft pool.

Baseball America’s JJ Cooper even called him his favorite player in the draft. And his site had the following to say about the 25-year-old righty.

"“Jimenez was outstanding in 2019. He struck out 14 batters per nine innings between Class A and Double-A while allowing only a 1.12 WHIP. Jimenez has a high-90s fastball with arm-side run, a plus slider, and a low-80s changeup that shows promise. Most power arms with his kind of experience who are available in the Rule 5 draft either have zero upper level minor league experience or well-below-average control. Jimenez spent half of the year in Double-A and has average control (3.2 BB/9). He is one of the more well-rounded prospects available with fewer drawbacks than most available arms.”"

Perhaps the part that stands out the most is where his upper-level minor-league experience is mentioned. His experience pitching in Double-A is what really allows him to stand out.

More from Golden Gate Sports

Plenty of pitchers in today’s baseball can throw hard. Plenty have good stuff and the ability to strikeouts batters. But Jimenez has passable control and significantly more experience than most pitchers available in the Rule 5 Draft.

And for that reason, he stands a good chance at making the Opening Day roster and sticking around.

This is especially true given the expected rule change that will expand active rosters to 26 players. With the Giants looking to find young players who could be a part of the future on bargain deals, this makes a ton of sense.

And perhaps Dany Jimenez could develop into a key part of a Giants bullpen that will look very different next season.

Next. San Francisco Giants: Could Madison Bumgarner sign with the Dodgers?. dark

He’ll have the opportunity to prove himself next year in Spring Training.

Home/San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants: Rule 5 Draft pick Dany Jimenez has a chance to stick

By Justin Fried | Dec 13, 2019

The San Francisco Giants selected minor-league reliever Dany Jimenez in Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft and the young right-hander has a chance to stick.

More from Golden Gate Sports