Rule 5 pick, Lara, sent back to Rays

JUPITER, Fla. — The Marlins freed up a spot on their 40-man roster on Sunday by returning Rule 5 Draft pick Braulio Lara to Tampa Bay.

As a Rule 5 claim, Lara had to make the 25-man, Opening Day roster, or sent back to Tampa Bay. The Marlins felt the hard-throwing lefty reliever didn’t fit into their plans, so he now will rejoin his original team.

Lara appeared in four Grapefruit League games, and he threw four innings, giving up two runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

While Lara throws in the upper 90s, there was a concern about him consistently throwing strikes.

The Marlins selected Lara in December’s Rule 5 Draft. The cost of taking a Rule 5 pick is $50,000. By returning him back to Tampa Bay, Miami receives $25,000 back.

So Lara was actually a $25,000 experiment to see if he could be a lefty in the bullpen.

Miami’s 40-man roster is now at 39.

– Joe Frisaro