Arizona Diamondbacks select Starlin Peralta in Rule 5 Draft

The Arizona Diamondbacks decided to roll the dice on right-handed pitcher Starlin Peralta Thursday after selecting him from the Cubs system with the 14th pick in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft.

Peralta, 22, made 20 appearances for Single-A Peoria this past season with 17 starts, a 5-8 record and a 3.44 ERA across 99⅓ innings. Here is what Diamondbacks farm director Mike Bell had to say about the acquisition:

"He's got a big arm ... We got a lot of good grades on him. You look at his numbers and I don't know if they'll jump out at you right away in [low Class A], but he's a guy with a lot of potential, a lot of upside and we'll get him into camp and see what he looks like."

The D-backs will now have to keep him on their Major League roster throughout the 2013 season or he will be offered back to Chicago for half of the $50,000 price tag Arizona paid for him. It is also always possible that the teams work out a trade for Peralta, which would allow the Diamondbacks to send him to the minors.

But while they may have gained a potential reliever, the D-backs also lost an outfielder, Ender Inciarte, to the Philadelphia Phillies. Inciarte, 22, hit .307 with 82 runs and 46 stolen bases across two levels of A ball in 2012.