More Rule 5 talk and a possible outfield option

So much for the narrative that no contending team would make a pick in the Rule 5 draft. There were 18 players selected yesterday and picks were made by Boston, Toronto, Cleveland, Texas and Detroit.

Add in the Orioles' two selections and all five teams that made the American League playoffs in October made Rule 5 selections on Thursday.

O's vice president Dan Duquette made it clear that just because the Orioles selected two outfielders, they are not done pursuing outfielders. Rule 5 picks can be sent back to their original teams. Some are sent back even before spring training ends, so we'll see about Aneury Tavarez and Anthony Santander, the O's picks.

The 24-year-old Tavarez was signed out of the Dominican Republic in October 2010 by Boston for $80,000. The lefty swinger hit .330/.394/.495 in 116 games last year (111 were at Double-A Portland) with 19 doubles, 13 triples, seven homers, 20 steals and 47 RBIs.

Tavarez, who was a postseason Eastern League All-Star, finished tied for the league's batting title, was second in triples, third in on-base percentage and fourth in slugging. In 26 games when he hit first or second in the order, he hit .419 (44-for-105).

Tavarez was hitting just .246 at the end of May when his bat took off big time. In June, July and August with Portland, he hit a combined .378. In 167 at-bats in the second half, he hit .377/.408/.593 with an OPS of 1.001. He had a walk rate of 6.8 percent and strikeout rate of 15.1. In a unique note, he hit in every spot in the batting order, one through nine for Portland. He was never ranked among Boston's top 30 prospects. And he hit just .226 in his first crack at the Eastern League in 2015, but he sure did much better this past season.

Santander, from Margarita, Venezuela, hit .290/.368/.494 with Lynchburg of the Single-A Carolina League with 42 doubles, 20 homers, 90 runs and 95 RBIs in his age 21 season. He led the league in doubles and extra-base hits, was third in homers and RBIs, and was a postseason All-Star. But can he make the huge jump from Single-A to the major leagues? The odds will be against him.

Santander is a switch-hitter with splits pretty equal against left- and right-handed pitching. In the second half for Lynchburg, he hit .306/.384/.532 with a .916 OPS. He had a 9.4 percent walk rate and 20.6 strikeout rate.

Santander ranked as Cleveland's No. 13 prospect at the end of the 2012 season and No. 20 a year later. He underwent shoulder surgery in the fall and the Orioles are going to have to find out in the spring if he can be a full go for the 2017 season.

It would seem that Tavarez is the favorite to make this roster over Santander, who has such a big jump to make. The chances of both making it seem long. But the Orioles will take a look at both players in the spring and perhaps find a diamond in the rough or someone to add to their outfield depth.

Click here to see the story from Baseball America's J.J. Cooper on how San Diego wound up with the top three picks in yesterday's draft and have come up with seven picks in the last two Rule 5 drafts.

What about Dyson?: The Orioles have been reported to have some interest in talking trade with Kansas City for outfielder Jarrod Dyson. He checks a few boxes for the Orioles. He is fast and a basestealer, he is coming off a season with an OBP of .340, he comes at a low salary and he is a good defender. He's also a leadoff hitter, so he checks quite a few boxes.

The 32-year-old lefty batter hit .278/.340/.388 last year with 30 steals in 37 bases. The Orioles were last in the majors with 19 steals as a team last year.

A free agent at the end of 2017, Dyson would likely be a one-year fix and that could bring down his trade price. A career .231/.305/.285 hitter versus lefty pitchers, he is more of a platoon guy than a regular. Maybe he could platoon with Joey Rickard, providing the club a speedy, basestealing option that can play decent defense in the lineup every night.

Dyson has averaged 31 steals per season over the past five years despite averaging just 284 plate appearances. On defense, he received a +11 rating from defensive runs saved in the outfield in 2016.

If Jose Baustista is a current Orioles villain, Dyson is one from their past. During the 2014 American League Championship Series, when Kansas City took a 2-0 lead over the Orioles, a reporter asked Dyson if he thought the series would return to Baltimore?

"No sir, I don't," he said. "And I don't think they think that, either."

The Orioles spent a lot of time during a pregame interview session before Game 3 at Kauffman Stadium answering questions about Dyson. Click here to head down memory lane.

Despite those comments then, is Dyson a good fit now?

Must see TV?: Roch Kubatko and I filed one last video report from the Winter Meetings on Thursday. Check that out below (we hammed it up a bit) and you can also find all the videos we shot at National Harbor here.