Angels lose 2 pitchers in Rule 5 draft

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The Angels lost a pair of minor league pitchers in the Rule 5 draft today with right-hander Bobby Cassevah going to the Oakland Athletics while right-hander David Herndon went to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cassevah, 24, was 11-21 with a 4.33 ERA in five minor league seasons in which he was used mostly in relief. A 34th-round pick in 2004 out of Pace High in Miami Gardens, Fla., Cassevah went 3-7 with a 3.68 ERA and four saves in 57 games with Double-A Arkansas last summer.

Herndon, a converted starter, is 26-23 with a 3.78 ERA in four minor league seasons. A fifth-round pick in 2006 out of Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla., Herndon had 11 saves in 50 appearances at Double-A Arkansas, going 5-6 with a 3.03 ERA.

Angels General Manager Tony Reagins, whose team did not make a selection in either the major or minor league phases of the draft, said he wasn’t surprised other teams showed interest in the two sinkerball pitchers.

‘I anticipated that that could happen,’ he said. ‘Because of what they are. They are ground-ball pitchers. They have some upside. And if you want to take a chance, it’s a risk that’s worth taking if it works out. If not, they offer them back to us and we have them back in our system.’

If either player does not remain on their new teams’ major league rosters throughout the 2010 season, they must be offered back to the Angels.

-- Kevin Baxter in Indianapolis