Orioles add one, lose two players in minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft

SAN DIEGO - The Orioles lost two players and added one today in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft. Unlike the major league phase, these players don't have to stay on any roster all year to stick with the club. They now belong to the selecting team and can be assigned to any minor league level. The Orioles selected outfielder Sean Halton from the Brewers organization. Halton, 27, hit .293/.342/.435 with 29 doubles, three triples, eight home runs and 63 RBIs in 122 games with Nashville. He's a career .291/.350/.448 hitter in six minor league seasons. Halton, who also plays first base, batted .238 with four home runs in 42 games with Milwaukee in 2013. He's listed at 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds. "Halton is a 6-foot-4 right-handed hitter," said Kent Qualls, the Orioles director of minor league operations. "Played in the big leagues with the Brewers in 2013, had about 50 games there. Nelson Norman in our Dominican academy helped us with him. He played in the Dominican winter league two years ago. "He's a big, strong hitter with power, but he also has a very good on-base percentage. He's a corner outfielder that can play first base and DH. We think he'll be a good contributor at Triple-A and you never know, he might help us in the big leagues." The Orioles lost pitcher Michael O'Brien to Tampa Bay. O'Brien never pitched in the organization and was just recently signed. "We signed him as a minor league free agent," Qualls said. "He was a right-handed starter with the Reds. He was a candidate to compete for a Double-A or Triple-A starting spot for us. We kind of were tipped off before the draft that we were going to lose him, but they could have signed him as a free agent also." The Orioles also lost pitcher Alex Santana, who went 15-8 with a 2.45 ERA in his O's minor league career. "You hate to lose anybody, especially a guy we've had for a few years," Qualls said. "He's a converted guy - he was originally a catcher and converted to pitcher. He pitched at several levels of A-ball and even finished the year in Double-A for us last year. He's a strike-thrower and did pretty well, but we do have a lot of pitching depth as well. We wish him all the best with his new opportunity."