Orioles select infielder Michael Almanzar, outfielder Julio Borbon in Rule 5 draft

By Josh Land

Orioles

December 12, 2013, 4:58am

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The Orioles today announced that they have selected third baseman Michael Almanzar of the Boston Red Sox organization in the Rule 5 Draft. In six minor league seasons in the Red Sox organization, Almanzar is a career .250/.302/.373 hitter with 49 home runs and 304 RBI. In 131 games with Double-A Portland in 2013, Almanzar batted .268/.328/.432 (136-507) with 16 homers and 81 RBI. With this move, the Orioles now have 39 players on the 40-man roster. The Orioles today announced that they have selected outfielder Julio Borbon from the Chicago Cubs organization in the Triple-A portion of the draft. In 288 major league games, Borbon is a .272/.318/.347 hitter (215-789) with eight home runs and 76 RBI. In 73 games for the Texas Rangers (one game) and Chicago Cubs (72 games) in 2013, Borbon, 27, batted .200/.282/.276 with one homer and three RBI. In 414 minor league games in the Rangers and Cubs organizations, Borbon batted .304/.357/.410 with 19 homers and 165 RBI. He was originally selected in the first round (35th overall) of the 2007 First Year Player Draft out of the University of Tennessee.