Mariners select 4 players in minor-league Rule 5 Draft (and get trolled by Astros)

It's Day 3 of the MLB Winter Meetings in Dallas, and the Seattle Mariners have yet to make a move that would add to their Major League roster. They did, however, add a few new minor league faces in Wednesday's Rule 5 Draft.

In the minor league phase of the draft, Seattle first selected Venezuelan outfielder Cesar Quintas from the San Francisco Giants. Quintas hit .228 with 12 home runs and 57 RBI while logging time at all three outfield positions with High-A San Jose last season.

The Mariners also drafted pitching prospects Taylor Floyd from the Minnesota Twins, Adam Leverett from the Tampa Bay Rays, and Matt Cronin from the Washington Nationals. Floyd made 44 appearances (one start) for Double-A Wichita in 2024, posting a 4.04 ERA with 59 strikeouts in 64 2/3 innings pitched. Leverett had a 4.07 ERA in 23 appearances (20 starts) and struck out 63 batters in 101 2/3 innings pitched between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham. Cronin rebounded from a 2023 injury to throw 44 1/3 innings with a 1.42 ERA and 0.88 WHIP across High-A and Double-A in 2024.

Quintas, Floyd, Leverett and Cronin and other players selected during the Minor League phase of the Rule 5 Draft aren't subject to the same roster restrictions as players selected during the Major League phase, so expect to see them in Double-A Arkansas and/or Triple-A Tacoma at the start of the 2025 season.

Astros troll Mariners with hilarious pick in minor-league portion of Rule 5 Draft

Seattle's American League West rivals, the Houston Astros, also made some moves during the Rule 5 Draft – including one that might be of particular interest to Mariners fans. In the Minor League portion of the draft, Houston selected a right-handed pitcher from the Giants named ... wait for it ... Julio Rodriguez.

The name is purely a coincidence, but a brutal one for Mariners fans who remember the 2022 American League Division Series in which their own Julio Rodriguez featured prominently. Seattle's Rodriguez, an outfielder, emerged onto the MLB scene earlier that year and helped lead the club to its first postseason appearance since 2001, becoming a face of the franchise in the process.

The Mariners ran into the Astros in the ALDS, where Houston promptly eliminated them in a three-game sweep. Rodriguez hit a triple and a double for Seattle in Game 1 of the series, but he was only 1-for-7 and made the final out in Seattle's 18-inning home loss in Game 3. The Astros, of course, went on to win the World Series that year.

Houston selecting a prospect of the same name is just salt in the wound for Mariners fans, especially since Seattle's Rodriguez is coming off the worst season of his three-year MLB career. While the Mariners' offensive struggles last season did not fall squarely on his shoulders, the team only goes as far as he goes. The Mariners will have to hope he rebounds in 2025 so they can have the last laugh.

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