We’re just a few months away from this winter’s Rule 5 draft, so it makes sense to take a look back and see how things shook out from the 2015 selections. Several organizations found useful players, even if the most recent class didn’t include an Odubel Herrera-esque breakout sensation. Some of the most recent draftees have probably locked up MLB jobs again for 2017, though others who stuck on a major league roster all year may head back to the minors for further development. (Once a player’s permanent control rights have been secured, his new organization is free to utilize optional assignments as usual for future years.)
Here’s a roundup of the 2015 draft class with the 2016 season in the books:
Keepers
- Tyler Goeddel, OF, kept by Phillies from Rays: The 23-year-old struggled with the aggressive move to the big leagues, carrying a .192/.258/.291 batting line in 234 trips to the plate, but showed enough for the rebuilding Phillies to hold onto him all year long.
- Luis Perdomo, RHP, kept by Padres (via Rockies) from Cardinals: It didn’t look good early for Perdomo, but he showed better after moving to the rotation and ended with a rather promising 4.85 ERA over twenty starts. Though he struggled to contain the long ball, and only struck out 6.4 per nine, Perdomo sported a nifty 59.0% groundball rate on the year.
- Joey Rickard, OF, kept by Orioles from Rays: After opening the year with a bang, Rickard faded to a .268/.319/.377 batting line on the year but held his roster spot in Baltimore. He ended the season on the DL with a thumb injury, though, and may end up at Triple-A for some added seasoning.
- Joe Biagini, RHP, kept by Blue Jays from Giants: The only Rule 5 pick to appear in the postseason, Biagini was a great find for Toronto. He ended with 67 2/3 innings of 3.06 ERA pitching, with 8.2 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9, and now looks like a potential fixture in the Jays’ relief corps.
- Matthew Bowman, RHP, kept by Cardinals from Mets: Bowman rounds out a trio of impressive relievers. He contributed 67 2/3 innings with a 3.46 ERA and 6.9 BB/9 against 2.7 BB/9 to go with a monster 61.7% groundball rate.
Retained By Other Means
- Deolis Guerra, RHP, re-signed by Angels (who selected him from Pirates) after being outrighted: Guerra was in an unusual spot since he had previously been outrighted off of the Bucs’ 40-man roster when he was selected, meaning he didn’t need to be offered back. Los Angeles removed him from the major league roster and then brought him back on a minor league deal, ultimately selecting his contract. Though he was later designated and outrighted by the Halos, Guerra again returned and largely thrived at the major league level, contributing 53 1/3 much-needed pen frames with a 3.21 ERA on the back of 6.1 K/9 against just 1.2 BB/9.
- Jabari Blash, OF, acquired by Padres (who acquired Rule 5 rights from Athletics) from Mariners: Blash’s intriguing tools weren’t quite ready for the majors, but San Diego struck a deal to hold onto him and was surely impressed with his showing at Triple-A. In his 229 plate appearances there, Blash swatted 11 home runs but — more importantly — carried a .415 OBP with a much-improved 66:41 K/BB ratio.
- Ji-Man Choi, 1B, outrighted by Angels after Orioles declined return: The 25-year-old scuffled in the bigs but was rather impressive at the highest level of the minors, where he walked nearly as often as he struck out and put up a .346/.434/.527 slash with five home runs in 227 plate appearances.
Returned
- Jake Cave, OF, returned from Reds to Yankees: After failing to crack Cinci’s roster out of camp, Cave impressed at Double-A but slowed at the highest level of the minors (.261/.323/.401 in 354 plate appearances) upon his return to the New York organization.
- Evan Rutckyj, LHP, returned from Braves to Yankees: Sent back late in camp, the 24-year-old struggled in limited action on the Yanks’ farm after missing most of the season with elbow issues.
- Josh Martin, RHP, returned from Padres to Indians: In his first attempt at Triple-A, Martin posted 66 frames of 3.55 ERA pitching with 8.2 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9.
- Daniel Stumpf, LHP, returned from Phillies to Royals: Slowed by a PED suspension, Stumpf was bombed in a brief MLB stint with the Phils but dominated at Double-A upon his return to K.C., posting a 2.11 ERA with 11.0 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 21 1/3 innings.
- Chris O’Grady, LHP, returned from Reds to Angels: Sent back in late March, O’Grady compiled a 3.48 ERA over 95 2/3 innings in the upper minors, though he performed much better as a Double-A starter than he did as a Triple-A reliever.
- Zack Jones, RHP, returned from Brewers to Twins: The 25-year-old was out with a shoulder injury for most of the year, and ended up being sent back to Minnesota in late June, but has shown swing-and-miss stuff when healthy.
- Blake Smith, RHP, returned from Padres to White Sox: Smith ended up making a brief MLB debut upon his return to Chicago, but spend most of the year pitching well at Triple-A Charlotte, where he ran up a 3.53 ERA in 71 1/3 innings with 9.5 K/9 against 3.0 BB/9.
- Colin Walsh, INF, returned from Brewers to Athletics: After struggling badly in his major league stint with the Brewers, Walsh went to Oakland’s Triple-A affiliate and put up a .259/.384/.388 bating line over 245 plate appearances.
Rule 5 can have positives but is mostly just a Graveyard full of prospects that didn’t pan out. Good for bad teams with no farm system (I.e. The angels)
Except that you can’t put them in your farm system……
Not until the next season.
That’s why he said bad teams since they can afford to keep them in the majors and either take a chance for their prospect shine to return somewhat or for the selecting team to gain their rights.
Makes more sense for only bottom 50% of teams (by W-L %) to be allowed to pick players and only top 50% of teams to lose players.
Right now, rebuilding teams often end up losing players, which seems to go against the spirit of the rule.
The purpose of the rule, mostly, is to push organizations to cycle players through their systems. Along with minor league free agency, limitations on optional assignments, etc, it prevents teams from just stashing guys forever without giving them a chance at the majors. Really, it’s a protection for players.
Correct.
In some cases, it will help a rebuilding team. Depending on the roster size in the upcoming CBA, which may not be agreed upon by the time 40 Man rosters are submitted before the Rule 5 Draft, some funny stuff might happen.
After all, the AL sides have a much easier time now keeping a Rule 5 choice. If the opportunity to hie a R5Guy on plain sight on the bench in both leagues becomes an option, teams you might not expect might poach talent, sit them for most of the season, then develop them for a season in Triple-A.
Or, maybe I’m wrong.
The Rays FO kept Steve Geltz and a bunch of other awful relievers over Goeddel and Rickard. Not saying either outfielder is great, but definitely better than a myriad of terrible that filled(fills) their roster. Dumb.
Lets get you a job in the Rays front office! Mahtook had been a consistently better player than Goeddel during both their time in the organization. With a outfield that’s almost blocking anyone else from coming up, they made the decision to let Goeddel go. Which was actually smart considering they were throwing shit at the wall to see what stuck
Nobody seems to want to link roster size with the Rule 5 Draft.
If the roster size increases to 27, Rule 5 poachings might become far more attractive.
I haven’t seen enough clear suggestions that there will be an expansion of rosters to really address that directly, but certainly agree that it would make the R5 a much bigger part of the picture. It would open a lot of doors for underperforming teams to stash guys, and would allow all teams to take guys whose talent they like while using them in limited, specialized roles — fleet-footed runners, glove-first up-the-middle players, unrefined sluggers/power arms.
Of course, their own teams would also have added incentive to keep them, though it would increase the pressure on 40-man rosters and probably lead to more overall player movement. And the R5 element would be much more dynamic.
Thanks for this
Can you have some sort of post that shows all the players eligible for the rule 5 draft for each team?
Now what if they expand roster to 26 but that 26th man has to be a D5. Then the D5 draft would be big. Then if the guy shines he will be on the 25 man roster the next season. It if not then he will have to go back to the minors. Or the team will drop him right before the end of the season.
Biagini is currently my favorite baseball player’s name
Bowman was the best of class with production last year.