Braves take none, lose two in Rule 5 draft

In Thursday’s Rule 5 draft that concluded the Winter Meetings, the Braves made no selections and lost two minor league pitchers, neither of them among the team’s big prospects.

Michael Lee went to the Diamondbacks off the Double-A Mississippi roster in the Triple-A phase of the draft, and left-hander Blaine Sims went to the Astros off the high-A Lynchburg roster in the Double-A phase.

Sims, 24, recently learned to throw a knuckleball in hopes of advancing his career, but he hasn’t pitched above A-ball and has a 5.12 ERA over four seasons.

Lee, a former independent league pitcher, had a 3.77 ERA in 26 games (21 starts) last season, all but one in Double-A. He had 80 strikeouts with 21 walks and 10 homers allowed in 133-2/3 innings.

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