Kansas City Royals Like What They See In Joakim Soria In Rule 5 Draft - MLB

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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - KANSAS CITY, MO (Dec. 8, 2006) - The Kansas City Royals have selected right-handed pitcher Joakim Soria from the Triple-A Portland roster of the San Diego Padres organization with the second pick in today's Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. To make room for Soria on the Royals 40-man roster, the Royals released right-handed pitcher Runlevys Hernandez. "Soria is a young, talented pitcher with a real feel for pitching who we've been following this winter,"

Royals Senior Vice President-Baseball Operations/General Manager Dayton Moore said. "He can compete for various roles on our Major League pitching staff in 2007."

Soria, 22, spent a majority of the 2006 season with the Mexico City Reds in the Mexican League. He also made seven appearances with Class A Fort Wayne, going 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA (11.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO) in seven relief appearances. With Mexico City, Soria served as the team's closer recording 15 saves and a 3.65 ERA (37.0 IP, 37 H, 15 ER, 11 BB, 30 SO) in 39 relief appearances while not factoring in a decision.

The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder from Monclova, Mexico, is currently pitching for Obregon in the Mexican Winter League, where he is having a dominating season leading the league in all three triple crown categories with an 8-0 record and a 2.02 ERA in 10 starts. In 62.1 innings, Soria has allowed just 14 earned runs on 46 hits while walking 19 and striking out 64.

Originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2001 as a non-drafted free agent, Soria pitched in the Dominican League and the Gulf Coast League in 2002 before missing the entire 2003 season with Tommy John surgery. He made just four appearances for the Dodgers Dominican team in 2004 and was released following the season. He made 30 appearances, including five starts, with Mexico City in 2005, recording a 5-0 record and

a 4.48 ERA.

Catcher Adam Donachie, the Royals second round pick in the 2002 draft, was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with the tenth pick of the draft. Donachie, 22, split his 2006 season with Class A High Desert and Double-A Wichita.