Reds active as Rule 5 Draft closes Meetings

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- The Reds selected a pair of catchers in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning as the 2016 Winter Meetings came to a close.
Cincinnati took Luis Torrens from the Yankees with the second pick of the first round, and Stuart Turner was selected in the second round from the Twins' organization. Torrens, whom MLBPipeline.com ranked as the 17th-best prospect in the Yankees' system, was dealt on Thursday night to the Padres for a player to be named and cash.
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"The first pick, we have every intent to work out a trade for that guy," Reds general manager Dick Williams said hours before Cincinnati completed the trade.
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Teams can select players left unprotected for $100,000, and they must stay on the Major League 25-man roster of their new club for the entire season. If not, they are returned to their original organizations for $50,000. The prices were doubled ahead of this year's Draft.

Turner, 24, was a third-round pick of the Twins in the 2013 MLB Draft. Last season at Double-A Chattanooga, he batted .239/.322/.363 with six home runs and 41 RBIs in 97 games.
"He's a good defensive catcher," said Reds assistant GM Nick Krall. "We liked him out of college when he was drafted. He'll be a good complement on the roster if something happened. He's just a good depth catcher, a decent prospect as well. He's close to being Major League ready."
The Reds are prepared to carry three catchers on their big league roster, if needed, according to Williams. Primary catcher Devin Mesoraco has been injured for most of the past two seasons and Tucker Barnhart is the No. 2 catcher, but capable of playing every day.
"The plan was to add catching so we'd have a contingency plan," Williams said of the Rule 5 strategy.
There had been pre-Draft buzz that the Reds could lose a couple of their players on Thursday -- including Double-A Pensacola shortstop Zach Vincej and Class A Advanced Daytona lefty reliever Ismael Guillòn.
"You never know. They doubled the price this year," Williams said. "It's a higher threshold for teams to think about. It's harder and harder to carry a guy on your roster that may not be ready."
The Reds selected right-handed pitcher Jose Adames from the Marlins' Double-A roster with the first pick of the first round of the Rule 5 Draft's Triple-A phase. The Reds lost two players in the Minor League phase-- first baseman Art Charles to the Brewers and right-handed pitcher Jefri Hernandez to the Orioles. Both players were signed as free agents last month and never played in Cincinnati's system.