This morning, Major League Baseball held its annual Rule Five Draft. In the major league phase, a club can select any eligible player from the rosters of the other 29 clubs. The club pays a fee for this selection, and must keep the player on its 40-man roster all season, or return him to his original team.

The Yankees saw two players taken in the major league portion, right-handed pitchers George Kontos (San Diego) and Lance Pendleton (Houston), both of whom spent time with the Thunder last year.

Here are quick rundowns on each player:

Kontos: A 25-year-old Northwestern grad and the organization's strikeout leader in 2008, missed most of last year after recovering from Tommy John surgery. When he returned he was gone from the starter's role, converted into a hard-throwing late-inning guy.

Kontos experienced some serious peaks and valleys both during the regular season and in the Arizona Fall League, where he accrued a 12.08 ERA in 10 appearances this autumn.

If he can prove that his stuff is fully back to where it was in 2008, then he has a small chance to stick with San Diego, where building a team on the cheap is paramount.

Pendleton: Most known in Trenton for being the guy whose pitch broke Jesus Montero's finger in 2009, Pendleton started the season in the bullpen -- but didn't stay there for long. Once Christian Garcia re-injured his elbow on Opening Day, Pendleton took his spot.

The staff's ace after David Phelps departed for Scranton, Pendleton was 12-4 between Double-A and Triple-A, with 124 hits in 154 2/3 innings, with 133 strikeouts and a .218 average against.