Twins lose prospects Akil Baddoo and Tyler Wells in baseball's Rule 5 Draft

The Twins passed in the major league portion of baseball's Rule 5 draft on Thursday, but they did lose prospects Akil Baddoo and Tyler Wells.

Detroit, with the third pick, claimed Baddoo from the Twins. The 22-year-old outfielder was the Twins' second-round selection in 2016 from Salem High School in Conyers, Ga. He hit .214 at Class A Fort Myers in 2019 before having Tommy John surgery that May; while recovering, he sat out last season because the minor leagues were shut down.

Baltimore took Wells from the Twins in the second round. The 6-foot-8 righthanded pitcher has been sidelined since Tommy John surgery in 2018. Wells, 26, was taken in the 15th round in 2016 out of Cal State-San Bernardino and was a combined 10-6 with a 2.49 ERA in 2018 at Class AA Chattanooga and Fort Myers.

The Twins could have protected both players — they have only 35 players on their 40-man roster. Players who were eligible for the Rule 5 draft are those with five years of experience if they were signed at age 18 or younger, or four years' experience if signed at 19 or older, and were left off 40-man rosters.

Teams that make a claim in the major league portion of the Rule 5 must pay $100,000 and keep the drafted player on their major league roster for all of 2021, or offer him back for $50,000.

In the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft, the Twins took two pitchers and lost an outfielder and two pitchers.

They claimed righthander Jhonleider Salinas from the Tampa Bay organization. Salinas, 25, is a 6-7 Venezuelan who has pitched five minor league seasons, mostly in relief, advancing as high as Class AA Montgomery.

The Twins also took lefthanded reliever Josh Mitchell from the Royals. The 26-year-old was a standout at Pitt before Kansas City took him in the 22nd round in 2017, and he has pitched for four teams in their organization, the highest at Class A.

The Twins lost righthanded pitchers Rickey Ramirez and Joe Record, and outfielder Jacob Pearson, in the minor league phase.

The Orioles claimed Ramirez, 24. A 15th-round choice in 2017 from Fresno State, Ramirez pitched in 60 games for four Twins minor league teams, never advancing past Class A.

Record, 25, was taken by Houston. Drafted in the 28th round in 2017 from UC-Santa Barbara, he was 4-4 with a 5.07 ERA at Class A in 2019.

Pearson went to Atlanta. The outfielder was a third-round pick of the Angels in 2017 out of West Monroe, La., who was traded to the Twins. He has hit a combined .233 in 235 games in rookie and Class A leagues.