Nationals Return Rule 5 Pick Evan Reifert To Rays
The Nationals have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Evan Reifert to the Rays, per announcements from both clubs. Washington’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players. The right-hander is back in the Rays organization and will not count against Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster. The fact that Reifert is being returned to the Rays indicates that he first cleared waivers after being made available to the league’s other 28 teams.
The 25-year-old Reifert (26 in May) signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and was traded to the Rays a bit more than a year later in exchange for infielder Mike Brosseau. He made his way to Double-A in 2024, pitching 41 1/3 innings of 1.96 ERA ball with an eye-popping 40.4% strikeout rate against a 9.9% walk rate. Despite the gaudy strikeout rate, Reifert was left unprotected last November and was the fifth player off the board in December’s Rule 5 Draft.
Last year’s 9.9% walk rate was higher than average but still far and away the best mark of Reifert’s career. He walked 14% of his opponents in 2021, 12.5% in 2022 and 37% in 2023 (in a tiny sample of 7 2/3 innings). Command has long been an issue, and that was again the case during spring training. Reifert issued a dozen walks and tossed three wild pitches in just 6 1/3 innings (39 batters faced).
Reifert has yet to pitch in Triple-A, but he’ll presumably do so this season. If the Rays can get his walk numbers back to even the 10-12% range, he has the potential to be an impactful big league reliever. The 6’4″ righty features a heater in the 94-97 range and an overpowering slider that MLB.com credits as a 70-grade pitch (on the 20-80 scale). FanGraphs touts that slider as a legitimate 80-grade offering … but couples it with 30-grade command.
2024 Rule 5 Draft Results
The 2024 Rule 5 draft took place this afternoon at the Winter Meetings in Dallas. The results of the draft are below.
As a refresher, the Rule 5 draft is a way for players potentially talented enough for the big leagues but blocked by their current clubs to find opportunities elsewhere. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of their original signing and have played five professional seasons, and any players who signed at 19 years of age or older at signing that now have four professional seasons, who are not on a club’s 40-man roster are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft.
Though the amateur (Rule 4) draft now has a lottery to determine the selection order, the Rule 5 draft still goes the old-fashioned way of reverse order of standings from the season that just ended. Clubs need to have an open 40-man roster spot in order to make a pick but aren’t obligated to make a selection on their turn. If they do make a pick, they will have to pay $100K to the team they select from. The selected players must stay on the active roster (or injured list) for the entire 2025 season or else be placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they must be offered back to their original team. They cannot be optioned to the minors.
Last year’s edition saw some key players change clubs. The A’s took Mitch Spence from the Yankees with the top pick and kept him all year. Justin Slaten was plucked from the Rangers by the Mets and then traded to the Red Sox. Players like Anthony Santander and Ryan Pressly have been notable picks in other recent years while guys like George Bell and Roberto Clemente are found deeper in the history books.
Here are this year’s picks…
- White Sox: RHP Shane Smith (Brewers) (Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline relayed the pick on Bluesky prior to the draft)
- Rockies: pass
- Marlins: C Liam Hicks (Tigers)
- Angels: LHP Garrett McDaniels (Dodgers)
- Athletics: RHP Noah Murdock (Royals)
- Nationals: RHP Evan Reifert (Rays)
- Blue Jays: RHP Angel Bastardo (Red Sox)
- Pirates: pass
- Reds: 2B Cooper Bowman (Athletics)
- Rangers: pass
- Giants: pass
- Rays: LHP Nate Lavender (Mets)
- Red Sox: pass
- Twins: RHP Eiberson Castellano (Phillies)
- Cardinals: pass
- Cubs: 3B Gage Workman (Tigers)
- Mariners: pass
- Royals: pass
- Tigers: pass
- Astros: pass
- Mets: pass
- D-backs: pass
- Braves: RHP Anderson Pilar (Marlins)
- Orioles: pass
- Guardians: pass
- Padres: RHP Juan Nunez (Orioles)
- Brewers: LHP Connor Thomas (Cardinals)
- Yankees: pass
- Phillies: RHP Mike Vasil (Mets); Phillies later traded Vasil to Rays for cash considerations, per announcements from both clubs.
- Dodgers: pass
Second round (all but one club passed)
- Braves SS Christian Cairo (Guardians)
The minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft also occurred this afternoon. Those players will not go onto the selecting teams’ 40-man roster. Right-hander Hobie Harris, who pitched for the Nationals in 2023 and signed a minor league deal with the Mets last month, was taken by the Red Sox.