Royals Place Rule 5 Pick Jandel Gustave On Waivers

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Royals Place Rule 5 Pick Jandel Gustave On Waivers

By Jeff Todd [March 24, 2015 at 3:30pm CDT]

Royals Rule 5 selection Jandel Gustave has been placed on waivers by the team, Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle reports on Twitter. The then-Astros farmhand was chosen sixth overall in this year’s draft by the Red Sox, who dealt his rights to Kansas City.

Gustave, a 22-year-old righty, was said at one point in the spring to have a decent chance at breaking camp with the Royals, who would have needed to keep him on the active roster all year to gain control over him in the future. Now, any team can claim him and step into his Rule 5 rights. If he goes unclaimed, Gustave will be offered back to Houston.

Like many Rule 5 selections, Gustave’s experience is entirely at the lower levels of the minors. He pitched last year at the low-A level, throwing 79 innings — including 14 starts — and posting a 5.01 ERA with 9.3 K/9 against 3.3 BB/9. He checked in at 30th on K.C.’s top thirty prospects this year, per Baseball America, which noted that the young righty delivers a fastball that touches 100 mph and profiles as a reliever. He is still working to harness that heater, however, and has yet to develop any consistent offspeed pitches.

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Padres Claim Jandel Gustave From Royals

By Steve Adams [March 26, 2015 at 1:14pm CDT]

The Padres have claimed hard-throwing right-hander Jandel Gustave off waivers from the Royals, reports Josh Vernier of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City (Twitter link). Gustave had been with the Royals in camp after being selected from the Astros in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, but Kansas City placed him on waivers earlier in the week.

Gustave, 22, is probably a long shot to make the Padres’ roster, considering he’s yet to pitch an inning above Class-A, where he worked to a 5.01 ERA in 79 innings last season. However, he has a fastball that can reach 100 mph and has 199 strikeouts in 196 1/3 Minor League innings, so it isn’t exactly difficult to see why teams are intrigued by his arm. Gustave does also come with command issues; he’s averaged 6.7 walks per nine innings in the Minors.

The Padres have a few options if they wish to retain Gustave. As a Rule 5 pick, he’d have to stick on the team’s 25-man roster all season before he could be optioned to the Minor Leagues. That seems unlikely, so the Padres could simply place him on waivers again and hope that he clears. However, even then, he’d have to be offered back to the Astros, who would likely be happy to reacquire his arm. Perhaps a likelier scenario would be one in which the Padres and Astros discuss a trade that would allow Gustave to remain in the San Diego organization.

San Diego will get a little more than a week to evaluate Gustave before a decision needs to be reached. They’ve placed catcher Tim Federowicz on the 60-day disabled list in order to clear a 40-man spot for Gustave.