By: T.J. Zuppe

While baseball's winter meetings draws to a conclusion, the Cleveland Indians made use of their fifth overall pick in the MLB Rule 5 Draft on Thursday morning. The Tribe selected first-baseman Chris McGuiness from the Texas Rangers organization with the fifth selection of the draft.

Here is the low-down on McGuiness:

• 2012 Arizona Fall League MVP (Hit .270 with 4 HR and 27 RBI in 25 games for Suprise)
• Drafted in the 13th round by the Boston Red Sox in the 2009 Draft
• 24-year old left-handed hitting first-baseman
• Hit .268 with 25 doubles, 25 home runs and 77 RBI with an OPS of .840 at Class-AA last season
• Some scouting reports are critical of his bat speed, leading some to believe his success in the minors will not translate to the majors
• However, Baseball America ranked McGuiness as the Rangers best first-base prospect in their system, boasting that McGuiness has a good feel for the strikezone and uses the opposite field well. His power is starting to blossom according to MLBProspectWatch.com

The selection of McGuiness reportedly cost the Tribe $50,000. He must remain on the Indians' 25-man roster for the entire 2013 season or be offered back to the Texas Rangers for $25,000.

McGuiness joins a pile of minor league first-baseman Cleveland has collected. In addition to Matt LaPorta, the Tribe also has Lars Anderson, Mike McDade (recently claimed) and Russ Canzler on their 40-man roster.

However, Thursday was not all sunshine and lollipops for the Indians. Cleveland lost two minor leaguers in the Rule 5 Draft.

Right-handed pitcher Hector Rondon was taken by the Chicago Cubs and left-handed pitcher T.J. McFarland was selected by the Baltimore Orioles.

Rondon is on the mend from two elbow surgeries. He was the Tribe's minor league pitcher of the year in 2009. McFarland was a former fourth-round pick by the Indians in 2007 and won 16 games between Triple-A and Double-A in 2012.

*Photo courtesy of MLB.com*