NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Giants gained a left-hander and lost another in Thursday's Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft, the concluding event of baseball's Winter Meetings.

They selected Jose Capellan -- not to be confused with the Colorado Rockies right-hander of the same name -- from the Boston Red Sox. San Francisco lost Travis Blackley, who was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Capellan, 21, is said to display plenty of movement on a fastball that travels in the low-90-mph range and a slider.

Capellan started 14 games for the Lowell Spinners in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League last season, but Giants vice president of player personnel Dick Tidrow said that San Francisco likely will try him during Spring Training in the bullpen, where the ballclub lacks depth. Capellan is currently pitching in relief for Azucareros del Este in the Dominican Winter League, where he's 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in seven appearances.

"Our reports on him in the Dominican are good and our reports in the States are good," Tidrow said. "We're excited. We think he's a premium arm."

Capellan finished 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA for Lowell, walking only 11 and striking out 71 in 75 2/3 innings. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder allowed 68 hits and only one home run. An industry source said that Capellan was so impressive that three other teams had lined up behind the Giants to draft him if he had remained available.

If Capellan doesn't make the Opening Day roster, he must be offered back to the Red Sox for $25,000, half of the Rule 5 Major League selection price. Frequently, teams engineer low-level trades to allow them to keep drafted players.

Capellan became the Giants' first Major League Rule 5 acquisition since infielder Felix Escalona, who never ascended to San Francisco, in 2001.

Blackley, 25, would have been a long-shot candidate for the No. 5 starting spot had he stuck with the Giants. After posting a 10-8 record and a 4.66 ERA for Triple-A Fresno, he started twice for the Giants last September, posting no record with a 7.27 ERA. Blackley earned the distinction of being only the second Australian-born player in Giants history, joining left-hander Damian Moss (2003).

In the Draft's Triple-A phase, the Giants selected shortstop Juan Ciriaco, who hit a combined .228 for three San Diego farm clubs, and lost right-hander Joe Bateman, who was 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA in 29 relief appearances for Double-A Connecticut, to Milwaukee.