The Mariners were rumored to have two pitchers on their wish list and were willing to sit out the Rule 5 draft if those names weren’t available. Apparently at least one of them was, as Seattle took Yohan Ramirez from the Astros with the sixth overall selection.
The Astros have been hoarding high-velocity low-command arms for a while and Ramirez is no different. Between High-A Fayetteville and Double-A Corpus Christi, he struck out over a third of batters faced in over 100 innings thanks to a fastball that sits 94-97 and can touch 99.