Cleveland Indians could get Barton, Whitney back

WINTER HAVEN, FLA. -- Unless the Indians can be persuaded to do otherwise, they want outfielder Brian Barton and first baseman Matt Whitney back at the end of spring training. St. Louis selected Barton and Washington took Whitney in December at the Rule 5 Draft.

Barton is having an excellent camp with the Cardinals. He's hitting .389 (12-for-34) with one double, two triples, two homers and six RBI.
Whitney is hitting .211 (3-for-17) with one double, one triple, one homer and six RBI for the Nationals.

A team that drafts a Rule 5 player must keep him on its big-league roster all year. If they don't, they must offer him back to his original club. In return, the Indians would have to give back half the $50,000 they received as compensation for each player.

If St. Louis and Washington want to keep Barton and Whitney, they can try to offer the Indians another player in place of them.

(blog.cleveland.com)