Dec. 12, 2011

Former Boston College pitcher Terry Doyle was taken by the Minnesota Twins from the Chicago White Sox with the second overall pick of the Rule 5 draft on Thursday.

"I am really excited about it," Doyle said. "I was with the White Sox for four years, so it will be different going to a new organization, but it's a great opportunity and I am really looking forward to running with it."

In 173 innings between high Single A and Class AA last season, Doyle went 8-10 with a 3.07 ERA and then made eight starts in the Arizona Fall League, going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA.

"That's a limited sample of games - eight starts - but he held his own, and that's meaningful out there because hardly any pitchers do any good out there," Twins director of pro scouting Vern Followell said. "It's a tough league to pitch in, and he did well."

Doyle, a right hander, was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 37th round in 2008. In his four years at BC, he registered a 4.90 ERA in 59 appearances and 288.1 innings, while tallying an 18-20 overall record. The Warwick, R.I., native was a 2007 draft choice of the Los Angeles Dodgers (21^st round) before electing to return to The Heights for his senior season. He registered a team-high three saves as a junior and led the team in innings pitched (89.0), strikeouts (72) and wins (5) as a sophomore.  He was ranked as the 40th top prospect by Perfect Game Crosschecker in the Cape Cod League in 2006 and was a two-year member of Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. In 2008, Doyle was named to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Watch List.

To retain Doyle, the Twins must put him on the 25-man active roster out of spring training and keep him there all season unless they work out a deal with Chicago. Otherwise, Minnesota would have to offer him back to Chicago for $25,000, half what they paid to draft him from the White Sox.

Doyle, 26, is 6 feet 4, 230 pounds and has the standard fastball-curveball-slider-changeup repertoire with enough life to succeed in the majors, according to Followell. More important, he has pitched a combined 341 minor league innings the past two seasons, most recently with the White Sox's Class AA Birmingham team (7-5, 3.24).

The Rule 5 draft makes available veteran minor leaguers not protected on 40-man rosters. A first-round "major league" selection costs a team $50,000, and he must immediately be put on the 40-man roster.