The St. Louis Cardinals selected left-handed pitcher Ben Jukich from the Cincinnati Reds with the 24th pick of the Major League 2009 Rule V Draft.  Jukich was 9-6 with a 4.10 ERA in 17 starts for the Reds AAA Louisville club in 2009.

Jukich is 6’4, 190. He appeared in 29 games, threw 123 innings and struck out 106 batters. The Cardinals will be the third organization Jukich will have pitched for as he was originally drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 13th round (398th overall) of the 2006 first-year player draft out of Daktoa Wesleyan University.

So here is how the Rule V (as in five) draft works. Teams draft unprotected players off other teams’ rosters and pay $50,000 for each player. If the player stays on the Major League roster for the entire season, the drafting team can keep him. If he is sent down to the minors, he must be offered back to the original team, for half of the purchased amount ($25,000).