Each year, Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings conclude with the Rule 5 Draft. For those who are unfamiliar with the event, MLBTR offers an in-depth description, but here's a quick overview.
Players are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft if they aren't on the 40-man roster four or five years after signing, depending on the age at which they signed. Teams draft in the reverse order of the previous season's standings but aren't required to make a selection. If they do choose a player, they pay his former team $50K and must keep that player on the Major League roster all season or offer him back to his original team for $25K.
The results from the Major League phase:
- Astros select left-hander Patrick Schuster from the Diamondbacks.
- Marlins did not make a selection.
- White Sox select catcher Adrian Nieto from the Nationals.
- Phillies select right-hander Kevin Munson from the Diamondbacks.
- Twins did not make a selection.
- Mariners did not make a selection.
- Phillies did not make a selection.
- Rockies select right-hander Tommy Kahnle from the Yankees.
- Blue Jays select left-hander Brian Moran from the Mariners
- Mets select right-hander Seth Rosin from the Phillies.
- Brewers select left-hander Wei-Chung Wang from the Pirates.
- Padres did not make a selection.
- Giants did not make a selection.
- Angels did not make a selection.
- Diamondbacks select right-hander Marcos Mateo from the Cubs.
- Orioles select third baseman Michael Almanzar from the Red Sox.
- Yankees did not make a selection.
- Royals did not make a selection.
- Nationals did not make a selection.
- Reds did not make a selection.
- Rangers did not make a selection.
- Rays did not make a selection.
- Indians did not make a selection.
- Dodgers did not make a selection.
- Tigers did not make a selection.
- Pirates did not make a selection.
- Athletics did not make a selection.
- Braves did not make a selection.
- Red Sox did not make a selection.
- Cardinals did not make a selection.
Alright this is what O’s fans have been waiting for all week! Our big move.
Moran was traded to the Angels, hence why he was drafted.
The Jays traded Moran to Angels for international draft cap space.
Rule 5 not as interesting anymore.
Texas drafted Russell Wilson from the Rule 5 draft,
If I was part of the Rangers ownership group, I would be deducting $12,000 from Jon Daniels next paycheck. That’s quite the expensive publicity stunt. Something tells me Russell wont be quitting his day job…
Sounds like he’ll be going to camp with them.
Russell Wilson has a 4yr/$3mil contract and won’t be an NFL FA until 2016. Plus he has 300 lb men coming to kill him every Sunday. Might behoove him to at least entertain other sports.
He already played in the Rockies minor league system and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. That’s when he decided to go back to football. NC State wouldn’t let him come back, so he went to Wisconsin, and the rest is history.
Supposedly it was done so Wilson could come talk to Texas’ minor leaguers occasionally. And for such little $$$, why not?
That makes sense. Russell is a great public speaker, and people are drawn to his personality. Being a massive Wisconsin fan, I can attest to how quickly he won over our fans in such a short time on campus. If this was done to give MiLB players a “pep talk”, I can think of no better person.
The Rule 5 has never been THAT interesting to me at least not as it happened. It was always kind of cool to look back at during ST though.
I’m not sure why the Sox got Nieto? Do they really expect him to play in big leagues this year and compete for a starting job? Dude got busted with roids back in 2011. I hope this isn’t Rick Hahn’s move for a catcher. This doesn’t fill a hole.
Probably to compete for a backup job in camp/gives them insurance. No real harm done if they decide to just send him back, right?
Good point.
Yes but they have Phegley and Flowers already…..which both are basically the same player. And they re-signed Hector Gimenez to a minor league deal. I would have like to see them draft Kahnle from the Yanks. High upside bullpen arm that you can hide in the bullpen if needed.
I love Kahnle. Interesting character but a great pitcher. I watched him pitch all season. I was shocked when the Yankees didn’t protect him
People make mistakes, he might be extremely remorseful and maybe the kid intends to do better things going forward. Rick and our scouting personnel probably see things in him that we cannot. Besides, it’s the Rule 5, who cares.
What interests me is the guy they picked up from the Rays out of Venezuela. A switch-hitting catcher, Omar Narvaez.
Why do the Jays need another reliever…? Especially one that can’t go down to AAA…
They traded him to the Angels a minute later (literally) for an Internaional Bonus slot
Draft guy in rule 5, trade him immediately, ???, Profit 200K!
I don’t know if it’s a profit – it’s more like increasing your salary cap money.
Did the Phillies draft 4th and 7th or are we missing the Cubs in there somewhere/.
Rosin was part of the package that the Phillies got from the Giants for Pence.
What I read seems to indicate that he’s looked at as a decent 4th/5th starter at best, or maybe a reliever.
Ahhh, yes…the day when teams pick players who’ve done nothing in MLB for the last 5 seasons. Teams and players cling to hope like a man holding fast to a cliff with his hands smothered in Vaseline.
PS, here’s an old list of good Rule 5 picks: link to mlb.mlb.com
Thanks for that list, I didn’t realize thats how Josh Hamilton left the Tampa Bay Rays. Would that be the biggest Rule 5 player change since Roberto Clemente was picked up by the Pirates from the Cubs?
Johan santana was a rule 5 pick. thats how the twins got him
Brooklyn Dodgers, not the Cubs.
Shane Victorino was a Rule 5 pick as well.
is Wang even eligible for Rule V? He only signed in 2011.
The reason Wang was eligible here is because his original contract with
the Pirates was voided. The Pirates originally signed him for $350,000,
but the deal was voided due to medical concerns which led to Tommy John
surgery. They re-signed him to a second deal and he underwent the
surgery. Any player whose original deal is voided becomes Rule 5
eligible the next draft, no matter when they signed their contract.
This courtesy of the Pirates Prospects site.
Very intriguing pick by Brewers. Got to love a 10.5 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. But hard to imagine a role for him. He was better against right handed hitting.
He has never pitched above rookie ball, he would have no chance in MLB. Perhaps they want to trade for him, but I can’t imagine the Bucs want to let him go.
He instantly becomes a top 10 prospect in the Brewers system, but with only 47 innings pitched in his career – all at rookie ball – it will be hard for him to stick. If they do manage to stash him away in the bullpen and hardly ever use him, then it’s only going to hurt his career.
There system isn’t the greatest, but saying he instantly is in their top 10 after 50 innings in rookie ball is a bit extreme
Well, I guess we’ll see won’t we. I think it’s possible he’ll stick, and I think it’s very possible the Pirates will trade something to get him back. I see this as a very good gamble by Milwaukee.
The Pirates don’t need to trade a thing to get him back, just wait for reality to take over this spring. There are hundreds of live arms in rookie ball, there is no reason to think Wang can stick. Wang should be pitching in A ball, not Miller Park.
He could easily be buried in the bullpen for mop-up duty. The Brewers need all the lefties they can get.
We get the 4th overall selection and we draft a guy no one would pick anyway. There were so many relief options, why did we pick the one with the bloated ERA?
If you trade a Rule V guy, do the same rules still apply?
Yes, unless a team wants to keep a rule V player and trades something to his original team for his rights. Like the Bucs did with Meek/Rodriguez several years ago.
Kinda sorry to see Almanzar go from Boston. RS gave him $1.5M back when he was a 6’3″ 16 year-old from the Dominican. Took forever it seems but has gone from complete bust to marginal MLB prospect.
You think Almanzar can stick on the Orioles roster all year? I bet he’s back in Boston system soon enough.
orioles have held onto their rule 5 guys the last two years i believe. that being said though, you’re probably right.
No Buck will let him ride the pine for a full season just to hold onto him. Buck and DD love their rule 5 guys… it’s frustrating
Yep, we still have TJ McFarland, and Flaherty I think is our projected starting 2B out of Spring Training…
Tough to say but after all this time (since age 16), he’s now 22 or 23 and age appropriate for the AA-level he played last year. And it appears his hitting has really come around the past two seasons. He seems mostly bat with a suspect glove, moving from SS to 3B to 1B.
Everybody Wei-Chung tonight.
Everybody Wei-Chung!
What’s the point of the rule 5 draft? Most of the time the players don’t make an impact in the mlb.
Just gives players an opportunity to break camp with another club basically. Betters their chances if another team selects them.
Wang and Kahnle were good picks. Surprised Zach Thornton wasn’t selected. However, the Pirates and Yankees got hit a bit in the Rule V, but with players I would not expect.
Love the Kahnle pick. He will have every opportunity to break camp with the Rox. Depending on the circumstances, lets say we are up by 3-4 runs, he is a great guy to come out of the pen and hold it down for an inning or so. With his control, however, I wouldn’t put him in pressure situations quite yet.
Did the Cubs give their rule 5 pick to the Phillies, or is it some sort of type-o
They lost in to the Phillies because of a claim the Phillies filed
“Indians did not make a selection.”
The Indians haven’t done much this off season in general..
Maybe they will do something come next year (Jan)..