Mets steal Yankees pitching prospect in Rule 5 Draft

The Rule 5 Draft was held on Dec. 7, 2022, at the conclusion of the Winter Meetings in San Diego.
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SAN DIEGO — The Yankees and Mets blood feud knows no boundaries.

In a ruthless act of thievery, the Mets selected Yankees righty reliever Zach Greene with the 27th overall pick in the Rule 5 Draft at the 2022 MLB Winter Meetings on Wednesday.

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Green must stick on the Mets’ 26-man roster all season or be offered back to the pinstripes. The Yankees drafted Green, a 26-year-old right-hander, in the eighth round in 2019 out of the University of South Alabama.

He made 48 appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 9-0 with a 3.42 ERA. He struck out an impressive 12.6 batters per nine innings but walked an ugly 4.2. Green made the Arizona Fall League All-Star team in 2021. He has a career ERA of 3.08. The Yankees gave him a $17,500 signing bonus. Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report said he threws a low-90s fastball with a high spin rate.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals made an interesting steal from the Yankees, too. St. Louis took right-hander Wilking Rodriguez at No. 25 overall. Rodriguez, 32, hasn’t pitched in affiliated ball since 2015. That season, he made two appearances with the Royals and then pitched in seven games with the Yankees’ Triple-A club. He’s pitched in Mexico and Venezuela since. Rodriguez has pitched in 276 games over 15 seasons in professional baseball, starting in 2007 with the Red at age 17.

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Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com.

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