Red Sox manager Alex Cora has always enjoyed a good relationship with longtime Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and recently gave him a call to rib him for allowing Boston to nab two talented young pitchers from their rivals in December’s Rule 5 draft.
In December, the Red Sox selected Kaleb Ort (in the Triple-A phase) from New York.
Ort, 29, went undrafted out of Aquinas College in Michigan and started his career in independent ball in 2016 before signing with New York in May 2017. He posted a 3.01 ERA in 96 relief appearances over three years in the Yankees’ system before the Sox nabbed him as a Rule 5 pick and invited him to major league spring training.
Ort won’t be found on any top prospect lists but has a chance to contribute in the majors at some point this year. The 6-foot-4, 240-pound pitcher has turned heads in both Worcester and Boston.
“He’s a good one,” Cora said. “His stuff plays. I really like what I saw. Velocity got better in spring training and he was throwing the ball well down there. He’s a guy we’re looking at, obviously, for the right reasons. We’re very excited with what he’s doing, what he did in spring training and what he can do, probably, in the future.”
Read full article here: https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2021/05/boston-red-soxs-alex-cora-called-yankees-brian-cashman-to-jokingly-thank-him-for-rule-5-picks-garrett-whitlock-kaleb-ort.html