The Royals have placed pitcher Jandel Gustave on waivers, reports a source close Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich.
Source: Royals have placed Jandel Gustave on waivers. Rule 5 pick from Astros.
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) March 24, 2015
The Red Sox selected 22-year-old Dominican in the most recent Rule 5 draft from the Astros minor league system, and traded him to the Royals. Gustave joined the Astros minor league system in 2010, and reached Low-A Quad Cities last season. With the River Bandits, Gustave posted a 5-5 record with a 5.01 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 14 starts (23 appearances). His best skill is his electric fastball, Gustave had 82 strikeouts in 79 innings pitched last season in Quad Cities.
To explain the Rule 5 draft, players that have been in a team's system for four (or five years if they signed at 18) years without being added to the 40-man roster are eligible to drafted. If a player is selected, the team must pay $50,000 to the team the player is selected from. The player must stay on the major league roster for at least 90 days (and not on the disabled list) during the season in order to retain the player. If the player doesn't remain on the 25-man roster, he is put on waivers and can be selected by any team. If he doesn't clear waivers, the process starts over again with the new team and the player must stay on a 25-man roster for 90 days. If said player clears waivers, he can be offered back to the original team for $25,000.
Gustave is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA, 6 SO, 3 BB in 7.1 IP this spring with the Royals.
The Astros has two other Rule 5 draftee, outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. and left-handed pitcher David Rollins to the Mariners. DeShields is batting .185 through 11 games, Rollins has looked strong allowing one run through eight innings this spring.