With just a few weeks left in the season, we have a pretty clear idea of which Rule 5 draft picks will stick with their drafting teams. At this point, having already carried the player this far and with expanded rosters easing any pressures, teams are quite likely to stay the course. Here’s how this season’s Rule 5 group has shaken out thus far:
Keepers
It isn’t official yet, but these
- Miguel Diaz, RHP, kept by Padres (via Twins) from Brewers: As part of the Pads’ unusually bold Rule 5 strategy, the club kept three youngsters this year. Diaz, 22, has managed only a 6.21 ERA with a 31:22 K/BB ratio over 37 2/3 innings. But he is showing a 96 mph heater and will remain with the organization, quite likely heading back to the minors next season to continue his development.
- Luis Torrens, C, kept by Padres (via Reds) from Yankees: The youthful backstop — he’s just 21 — has struggled badly on offense in limited action. Through 133 plate appearances, he’s slashing just.169/.246/.212 — with just four extra-base hits, none of them home runs.
- Allen Cordoba, INF, kept by Padres from Cardinals: And then there’s Cordoba, who’s also just 21 years of age. He faded after a hot start at the plate, but on the whole his output — a .209/.284/.304 batting line and four home runs over 215 plate appearances — is fairly impressive given that he had never before played above Rookie ball.
- Dylan Covey, RHP, kept by White Sox from Athletics: Technically, owing to a DL stint, Covey has only compiled 83 of the minimum 90 days of active roster time required to be kept. But he’s going to make it there before the season is up, meaning that the Sox will be able to hold onto his rights and option him back to the minors in 2018. Covey, 26, has struggled to a 7.90 ERA with 4.9 K/9 against 4.4 BB/9 over 54 2/3 innings, allowing 18 long balls in that span.
- Stuart Turner, C, kept by Reds from Twins: Turner has seen minimal action, appearing in just 33 games and taking only 77 trips to the plate. And he’s hitting just .141/.184/.268 in that sporadic action. Clearly, though, the Reds have seen enough to believe he’s worth the trouble to hang onto.
Still In Limbo
- Kevin Gadea, RHP, selected by Rays from Mariners: Gadea has not pitched at any level this year owing to an elbow injury. He’ll remain with the Tampa Bay organization for the time being, but will still need to be carried on the 40-man roster over the offseason and then on the active roster for at least ninety days for his rights to permanently transfer.
- Armando Rivero, RHP, selected by Braves from Cubs: It’s the exact same situation for Rivero as for Gadea, though he has had shoulder problems.
- Josh Rutledge, INF, selected by Red Sox from Rockies: This was not your typical Rule 5 move. Boston snagged the veteran infielder after he signed a minors deal with Colorado. He ended up seeing minimal MLB time owing to injuries and his season ended recently with hip surgery. Rutledge is eligible for arbitration this fall and isn’t likely to be kept on the 40-man roster regardless.
- Anthony Santander, OF, selected by Orioles from Indians: Since he only made it off of the DL late in the summer, Santander can accrue only 45 days on the active roster. If Baltimore wants to keep him, then, it’ll need to put him on the Opening Day roster next year. Santander has seen minimal playing time thus far, recording two hits in twelve trips to the plate, though he put up impressive numbers on his rehab assignment.
Kept By Other Means
- Daniel Stumpf, LHP, signed with Tigers after electing free agency upon return to Royals: This is another unusual situation. As a previous Rule 5 returnee, Stumpf was eligible to elect free agency upon being returned to his original organization. That’s just what happened when Detroit sent him back to Kansas City; the southpaw then turned around and re-signed a MLB deal with the Tigers. He has ended up turning in a rather productive year, posting 32 1/3 innings of 2.78 ERA ball with 8.6 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 at the major-league level and showing even more impressive numbers during his time at Triple-A.
Already Returned
- Tyler Jones, RHP, returned to Yankees by Diamondbacks: Jones has thrown rather well at Triple-A since going back to the New York organization, posting 10.7 K/9 against 2.8 BB/9 in 63 2/3 innings, though he has also allowed 4.38 earned per nine.
- Caleb Smith, LHP, returned to Yankees by Brewers: Smith ended up earning a 40-man roster spot and spending some time in the majors after showing quite well as a starter in the minors. But he has been knocked around in his 18 2/3 MLB frames on the year.
- Justin Haley, RHP, returned to Red Sox by Twins (via Angels): The 26-year-old didn’t stick with Minnesota, allowing a dozen earned runs in 18 innings before being returned to Boston. But he has thrown well since landing back at Triple-A Pawtucket, posting a 2.66 ERA with 7.2 K/9 and 1.4 BB/9 in 44 innings over seven starts.
- Tyler Webb, LHP, returned to Yankees by Pirates: Webb also gained a 40-man spot with the Yankees after showing some intriguing K/BB numbers at Triple-A. He was ultimately dealt to the Brewers.
- Aneury Tavarez, OF, returned to Red Sox by Orioles: Tavarez played his way back up to Triple-A upon his return to his former organization, but has hit just .244/.292/.400 in 145 plate appearances there.
- Glenn Sparkman, RHP, returned to Royals by Blue Jays: Sparkman was bombed in his one MLB appearance and has been limited to just 30 1/3 minor-league frames due to injury.
- Hoby Milner, LHP, returned to Phillies by Indians: Another player who has risen to the majors with the organization that originally let them leave via the Rule 5, Milner has turned in 24 1/3 frames of 1.85 ERA ball in Philadelphia. Of course, he has also managed just 15 strikeouts against ten walks in that span.
- Mike Hauschild, RHP, returned to Astros by Rangers: The 27-year-old righty struggled badly in his eight MLB frames. Upon returning to the rotation for Houston’s top affiliate, Hauschild has uncharacteristically struggled with free passes (5.3 per nine).
Not an impressive crop. I like it when a rule 5 guy makes an impression.
Me too. Especially when he’s from the Astros like Delino DeShields Jr.
Once he wasn’t protected, it was widely expected to get picked up. It was genuinely shocking when november 21st came around and he was left off.
At the time there just wasn’t a place for him and other outfield prospects had passed him up. With Marisnick already on the team there wasn’t really a long term role for someone of his tool set.
Hauschild is a RHP
And I had even managed to mention that in the write-up. Fixed.
Man those Padres guys really struggled and so did everyone that was kept. Cordoba looks like a keeper though so maybe it will comeback to pay dividends
Diaz looked pretty good just before he got hurt and pitched 4 innings of no run ball in his first game back. I can’t remember if he pitched since that. But his era is pretty skewed by his early shellackings. I think he has a lot of potential.
Torrens was an A baller. Reassess him in 2 years.
I feel like teams that tank and put guys that aren’t ready on the MLB roster should be heavily penalized. Kills the league. Waters it down. You should earn a promotion to the MLB-these guys did not. There has to be better players in the padres system that should be taking the roster spots. With all of the metrics out there, there should be a way to determine when teams are not putting there best foot forward. I hope every one of the players the padres kept tank so teams will stop losing on purpose.
Please correct me if I’m wrong but I thought the Rule 5 was a benefit to players stuck in the minors because of the team putting a ceiling on the development.
This rule gives a player a chance to go to another team and perhaps flourish if the ability is there without the handcuffs of the former team?
So really it’s beneficial to players and if the teams are tanking with these guys oh well. At least these players are getting a shot with another organization.
Yeah exactly. If MLB thought it was a bad rule they’d change it to claiming team only needing to hold the player on their 40 man instead of active 25.
That’s not what teams like the padres are doing. There grabbing guys that are in rookie ball and putting them on the roster. Those are not blocked players. They simply haven’t worked there way up yet. When teams are doing what the padres are doing, it’s Bush league and they should be penalized. They are in fact blocking more major league ready players by watering down the MLB with rookie league talent.
The Padres used 49 players this year, many of whom were older AAAA players. No one was blocked from hitting the Majors. If you want to argue against tanking, you should start with them putting Jered Weaver on the roster and adding players like Chase d’Arnaud and Matt Szczur.
It’s bush league to fill your roster with washed up players who are so bad that their only purpose is to help the team lose.
Personally I don’t care if you tank, every team has been bad at some point. It’s just how it works, and it helps you find out who you keep and who you don’t.
What do you think is worse for baseball? A team going 10-15 years without q in I g season, or a team being absolutely horrible for 4-5?
q in I g? Is that Klingon?
Look, it’s not like every team has the same avenues to acquire talent–teams like the Padres are going to sign guys to 10-year, $300 million dollar contracts, or be in on signing guys posted from Japan. They’re being innovative and looking for ways to sign talent they can afford. They should be congratulated for that, not penalized for it.
They were penalized by keeping players that stunk all season and that won’t be part of the MLB squad next season. Torrens will never hit. Cordoba and Diaz will head back to high A next season so they will be right where they would have been. Instead of getting 400-500 ABs or 100 plus innings in the minors, they got limited action at the major league level. How does that help the team or the players?
For one thing, those guys made a half million dollars this year and will receive a pension later in life. Furthermore, they will (likely) remain on the Padres 40 man roster, so again more money, union protection, likelier to be called up, etc.
Not to mention a year learning from actual major league coaches and players. These guys don’t show up 2 minutes before the game and leave 2 minutes after it is over. All the practice and just talking with other players on road trips will help to prepare them for the rigors of a major league season. There is a lot more to being a big league player than just playing the game.
You really seem to have a grudge against the Padres for doing something that every MLB team has the opportunity to do. Don’t worry, in a few years they’ll start losing players to the Rule 5 draft too. It’s just the way it works.
You’re right. I don’t like any team that tanks. It’s bad for the game and devalues wins. Zero integrity.every team should be expected to put their best foot forward otherwise it cheapens the game. Competitive balance will even out. Tanking is an unethical shortcut. If the padres don’t have the talent to put guys on the roster better than rookie level players, then they are doing many things very poorly.
Really it’s an indication of a watered down league. Too many expansion teams. Rookie level players shouldn’t even be more than after thought for a big league club. If the padres can’t manage to run a successful major league franchise, maybe they should be eliminated.
Tanking? If that is what you think they did then Padres fans should be really angry. They are on pace to win 72 games. That is 5-6 more than anyone expected them to win. They are the #9 draft pick as of today. Not a very effective tank.
Why didn’t I see you whining about tanking when the Cubs and Astros were doing it?
Maybe if there were better policies put in place, (like in other leagues with salary caps) that would not promote tanking to such a level, then it would make more sense. But this is MLB. Teams like the Padres (similar to the Cubs and Astros of the past) need to do this in order to have a chance to be competitive in the future.
Cubs and Astros don’t have buffoon for GM
Who in their system was blocked? Who didn’t get a call up because these guys were on their team? They called up everyone with a smidgeon of talent and a few that didn’t have any talent. The Padres are far from the worst team in the league, so how are they tanking?
Why are you so buttburt about the Padres. Dave Dombrowski, is that you?
Wear Coast, no one cares what you say anymore. It is the way you state things that make people ignore you. Try conversation instead of criticizing , it will work a whole lot better. People will actually listen to what you are saying rather than ignoring you for the most part. You have a lot to offer to a conversation. Right now, you are no better than Cousin Ralph and he has been booted many times. Soon, this site will be obtaining IT addresses and block the trolls and all others who have nothing to offer but ignorance. Like I have already stated, good luck to you and share the knowledge that you have rather than trying to belittle the entire people. You do not want to be looked at like Cousin Ralph because he has nothing going for him in the life that he has. When someone has a miserable life, they tend to get on these forms and try to bring everyone to their level. You seem to have so much to offer to these sports forums.
West and forums both spelled like this and not like the above.
Dude, tell it to this jmc70 guy. He is like demanding the Padres be penalized for doing something that other teams have been doing for YEARS, even if the Padres have arguably “overused” it, they have broken ZERO rules. It’s clear he just has some resentment issues towards the Padres and if they hadn’t taken Torrens, Diaz and Cordoba in the Rule 5 draft he’d just find something else to whine about.
Do not compare me to Cousin Ralph. He thinks for himself and so do I. You have no idea what he, I or anyone else on here has or does in their own private lives.
A “troll” is not “someone who disagrees with you.”
I know how to downvote other people’s comments too.
You keep proving over and over again that you are in the same class as Cousin Ralph. But, you are more intelligent and need to keep that in mind. You know sports in general so why not share your knowledge rather than always looking to argue? And by the way, I do agree with you in your thinking about the. Padres. Go back and read some of your comments and compare them to Ralphies and you will see what I am talking about.
You opened your comment with “no one cares what you say” and feel the need to downvote other people’s comments so if anyone is like Cousin Ralph, it’s you.
Anyway, this jmc70 guy isn’t trying to foster discussion. He just wants to hate on my team.
Bush league moves by the padres should make it to where MLB considers getting rid of the rule 5 draft-or at least revising the rules significantly.
The rule 5 draft is good. It gives guys a shot they wouldn’t get in their respective organizations. Most teams don’t go the route the padres did and are able to carry 3 non contributors. They still have to keep all these guys on their 40 man rosters next year. Plenty of productive players have been snagged in the rule 5, not this year but in years past. Santander is a good looking hitter just not quite MLB ready. Padres aren’t even close to the worst team in baseball despite their choice to keep 3 guys who give them absolutely nothing. It’d be a very hard argument to make for getting rid of the rule 5 using the padres as your main defense. It’s here to stay and so is losing.
That’s not what teams like the padres are doing. There grabbing guys that are in rookie ball and putting them on the roster. Those are not blocked players. They simply haven’t worked there way up yet. When teams are doing what the padres are doing, it’s Bush league and they should be penalized. They are in fact blocking more major league ready players by watering down the MLB with rookie league talent.
If you are going to pass judgement based solely on what level they are playing at when drafted, and not on the players unique skill set, please consider that it is the team alone that controls organizational placement, and there are factors that motivate teams to hide some players at lower levels.
Pretty sure that’s not actually the point, it’s just that all 3 were signed extremely young (for all 3, their first years in professional baseball was their age 17 seasons), and so remained in the lower minors for longer than most draftees (who range from 18-22).
If all they were doing was cost-cutting to lose, they could easily bring up their own prospects, or sign MiLB FAs. And it’s not like these guys have been taking a staggering number of appearances or anything. Diaz pitched 37.2 innings. Torrens played in 53 games, but only has 133 PAs. Cordoba played in 91 games, but has been an obvious utility guy (he’s literally played 6 different positions this year) and only has 215 PAs.
If the Padres are tanking, they’re doing a pretty poor job of it, considering they’re not even in the bottom 3 in the NL, and only have the 8th-worst record (and could easily end up in the 18th slot, if they do ok the rest of the way and the Braves, Jays, Pirates and and Marlins finish out poorly).
Who exactly was blocked by Torrens? Who was the better player. the Padres didn’t call up? Torrens ranked up near the top of the league in defense. He just can’t hit. Even at that, he was not the worst hitting catcher in the league. Lobaton and Maile were worse.
Who exactly was blocked by Cordoba? Who was the better utility player in their system? Pirela? He obviously was not blocked. Who else? Cordoba was hitting .310 on June 1st. That is pretty good. He will be sent down to High A or AA, but again, who on their farm system is better?
Who exactly was blocked by Diaz? I would say that any pitchers not called up were blocked by Weaver and Quackenbush and Lyles and Lee and Overton. Washed-up pitchers. Diaz at least has a real FB and a chance to pitch well. Weaver had no chance. The Padres brought up ALL of their top relief prospects as well as the starter Lamet, so who exactly was Diaz supposedly blocking? Name a single player he blocked.
Sometimes the comments on here leave me thinking WTF are people smoking?
Nothing is stopping other teams from taking players from the Padres in Rule 5
Any chance MLBTR will put together a list of the upcoming top Rule 5 candidates for Winter 2017?
It’s a little early. The MLBTR guys don’t have any idea who teams are going to protect on their 40mans at this point. Besides the obvious top prospects
So to answer SimplyAmazin91’s question, there is a chance?
We have done this before, but it is honestly a huge undertaking to do with any merit. And we would certainly wait until 40-man decisions are made. But we’ll certainly consider it.
Used to think Torrens would be a decent one but he has tanked in SD (due to inexperience) and no other team can do it but the Padres because they are committed to losing! So why not waste a roster spot on Torrens – its the perfect situation because they want to keep him so bad. They just aren’t doing him any favors either by doing so…
How are they not doing Torrens any favors? He got 1 year of MLB coaching help and playing experience and can take that with him back to the minors to know what he has to do to return to the majors. People overlook the fact making it to the majors isn’t a given, so it’s a benefit to the player experiencing it. Not to mention being paid the MLB minimum for 1 year will surpass their entire minor league earnings and then some.
Torrens ranked near the top of the league in defense. In that regard, Torrens got a great opportunity to work with a MLB pitching staff and MLB coaches. That can only make him a better catcher. Next season he will go to high A or AA and work with that incredible crop of pitchers the Padres have in the minors right now and that will help the organization get better. Torrens knows what it takes to be a major league pitcher and he can pass that along to pitchers that have the stuff to be really good.
Yeah he could be worth it though
Well he has gotten to spend a year catching MLB pitchers and working with MLB coaches and players on his hitting and receiving so I hardly think that will hurt him overall. The last I checked there are around 9 teams worse than the Padres this year so I’d hardly call them committed to losing. Cordoba and Diaz have both showed some really nice tools at times this year. I think Diaz has a good chance of being back on the Padres at some point next year or 2019 for sure.
Best Rule 5 pickup of all time: Pirates selected Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers on 11/22/54. Btw, he was never returned to the Dodgers. 😉
@Eatabagadeez. So staying in the Yankees organization when they have arguably the best young catcher in the game who isn’t going anywhere in the next decade would have been beneficial to Torrens career how? I’d rather spend a year growing under a franchise that is going through a complete rebuild in which I’m a part of the plan, and I’ve been given the tips and tools necessary to return if I chose to work hard enough.
I know what you are saying, but Torrens was likely a few years away from being considered blocked by Sanchez, if (big if) he actually developed enough to be considered blocked. This wasn’t a catcher coming off a huge year in AA. This was a catcher that missed a full season a few years ago and was just getting back to full strength in A-ball.
The Padres played by the rules, so I have no problem with that. Now we will see if the strategy actually works or not, as these kids will be watched closely over the next few seasons to see if their development has been impacted.
To be fair Torrens is also blocked in the Padres organization by Austin Hedges
How are the Padres ruining this? They are finding propects in every way they can. If the teams valued these player so much, then protect them. Other teams can take players from San Diego. Yimmi Brasobon was supposed to be picked, but he wasn’t. Fine by me. Now the Padres have a young defensive first catcher that has some ML experience to send to AA next year. They have a potential utility man in Cordoba they can send to AA next year.. Diaz is the only one that may have a shot at the 25 man next year, but not likely.
Cha-Ching. Didn’t read your post before I commented at the bottom of the thread but everything you said was exactly what I did. Props, atleast someone gets it.
Rookie question: How long has the rule 5 been an active rule?
I like milner, he’s gonna be good
The major of these guys will never sniff the Majors again.
Braves daniel winkler, I think the kid still has active roster requirements he is finishing up after his injury plagued rule 5 season(s). Black horse to get back to starting and anchor a phenominal triple a rotation next year.
He does, but he’s probably not on this list because he was from an earlier Rule 5 draft. Even when his active roster requirements are fulfilled, though, he’ll probably stay as a member of the ML bullpen instead of going back to the rotation.
Yea, but he is an oddity that adds to the topic. Why do you think he is a future bullpen arm vs SP?
He’s performed well this year out of the pen for the Braves, there’s obvious injury concerns with him (which often relegates people to the pen), and the Braves would definitely prefer to give rotation spots to up and coming prospects such as Soroka and Allard. Plus, his stuff plays up better out of the bullpen, and even before the Braves moved him there, there was already talk that he might be better in the pen anyway.
I was also thinking that Winkler still needed some time to fully resolve his Rule V requirements. Unless I am wrong, because of injuries it looks like Winkler will still be in technical limbo from the 2016 season until some point in the 2018 season. He has been quite effective though when healthy.
if a player is injuried, who pays the medical bills? if its the claiming team, then the player should be theirs.
The teams that kept players are all at the bottom of the standings and not a single one will contribute to the MLB squad in 2018. Have to wonder about the wisdom of keeping players on your team that have no chance of helping you win today or for the near future. If it’s someone like Deshields that made an impact on the MLB team that is another situation. All of these guys stunk or were injured this season.
Both players that the Padres took last season have spent time on the MLB roster this year too. One has been in the rotation all year and one has been back and forth between AAA and San Diego a couple of times.
Santander is going to be a player, and soon.
I agree; I’m an Indians fan, and even though it didn’t make much sense for them to protect him, I was still disappointed when Baltimore took him. He’ll be a decent player.
MLBTR, someone else is posting using my name. How is that possible? Can you track the IP address they are posting from?
It’s almost certainly a glitch that somehow has random visitors logged in to someone’s account, even if they don’t have their own account. I’ve run into it several times before, but haven’t encountered the problem in months, so I assume that it had been fixed. Maybe there was an error if they updated the website recently?
Good article.
I think what people are forgetting about the Padres is that they have invested a lot into the starting pitching depth they have in the minors. In this year’s draft they took 2 high school catchers, one in round 2 and one in round 3, with the soul purpose being that they want to have quality receivers for these young arms to come up through the system with.
Torrens got to spend a year with Darren Balsley, learning scouting reports, how they like to attack certain hitters, watching film, what to look for in certain situations, etc. Now he is going to take that knowledge back to AA most likely where he can implement these game plans with Quantrill, Laurer, Luchesschi, Baez, De Los Santos, Etc. That now gives all of those young arms a leg up on what to expect when they get to the bigs and the learning curve won’t be as steep.
Regardless if he can ever figure out how to hit, everything I just mentioned is enough to make the year trial of him on the big league roster worth it. 100%
The Padres are just following the rules set forth in the Rule5 draft.
To keep a player beyond the current season they must remain on their 25 man during the current season.
The Padres were not planning on contending this season so they decided to use the Rule5 draft to acquire players that they can put in their farm system after a season of keeping them up at the show. All it costed them was a posting fee. Adds future value to their farm system without having to trade international bonus slots or other prospects to do it. Not a bad idea. Some fans might hate it but the team sees another way to add young talent low on the “cost meter”
Until MLB states revenue sharing, which they never will, low market teams like the Padres HAVE to use avenues such as the Rule 5 in order to even attempt to compete with teams like the Dodgers and their unlimited payroll. It’s not Bush League as a few posters suggested, it’s economical baseball.
That should be starts, not states*
Isn’t there a minimum age and experience level for players to be exposed to the rule 5 draft?
Honestly- I love what the Padres do with it. Its been obvious they werent going to compete in ’17 for a while. Theres no reason why they couldnt take a flier on high upside rookie leaguers.
Yes, taking a 27 year old AAA reliever would have been a safe move, but the upside would be exceptionally limited. Diaz and Cordoba are both likely ’18 contributors, and dont forget, Torrens is 21 jumping immediately from A ball to the bigs. Give him a year or two, he’s got no doubt upside.