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2022 Rule 5 Draft Results

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The 2022 Rule 5 draft will begin at 4pm Central time today at the Winter Meetings in San Diego. This will be the first time since 2019 that the meetings will be held in person, as the 2020 edition was virtual because of the pandemic and the 2021 draft was cancelled entirely due to the lockout.

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 were signed in 2018 or earlier, and any players 19 or older and signed in 2019 or earlier, who are not on a club’s 40-man roster are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft.

The clubs will draft in reverse order of the 2022 standings, with no club obligated to make a selection when it’s 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 2023 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. The most recent edition in 2020 saw some notable names move around, such as Akil Baddoo going from the Twins to the Tigers while Garrett Whitlock went from the Yankees to the Red Sox.

This post will be updated with the results as they come in…

First Round

1. Nationals: RHP Thad Ward (Red Sox) (hat tip to Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com)
2. A’s: 1B Ryan Noda (Dodgers)
3. Pirates: LHP Jose Hernandez (Dodgers)
4. Reds: OF Blake Sabol (Pirates); Reds later traded Sabol to Giants for cash or a player to be named later
5. Royals: pass
6. Tigers: RHP Mason Englert (Rangers)
7. Rangers: pass
8. Rockies: RHP Kevin Kelly (Guardians); Rockies later traded Kelly to Rays for cash considerations
9. Marlins: RHP Nic Enright (Guardians)
10. Angels: pass
11. D-backs: pass
12. Cubs: pass
13. Twins: pass
14. Red Sox: pass
15. White Sox: RHP Nick Avila (Giants)
16. Giants: pass
17. Orioles: RHP Andrew Politi (Red Sox)
18. Brewers: RHP Gus Varland (Dodgers)
19. Rays: pass
20. Phillies: RHP Noah Song (Red Sox)
21. Padres: LHP Jose Lopez (Rays)
22. Mariners: RHP Chris Clarke (Cubs)
23. Guardians: pass
24. Blue Jays: pass
25. Cardinals:RHP Wilking Rodriguez (Yankees)
26. Yankees: pass
27. Mets: RHP Zach Greene (Yankees)
27. Braves: pass
29. Astros: pass
30. Dodgers: pass

Second Round

  • All teams passed

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. A few former major leaguers changed uniforms. They include Hector Perez from Baltimore to the Rays, Josh Palacios from the Nationals to the Pirates, Jared Oliva from the Pirates to the Angels, Nick Burdi from the Padres to the Cubs, Peter Solomon from the Pirates to the D-Backs and Jonathan Arauz from the Orioles to the Mets.

Pitching Notes: Greene, Ynoa, Braves, Twins, Kuhl

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Shane Greene’s long free agent wait ended yesterday when he re-signed with the Braves on a one-year deal worth a prorated $1.5MM.  “It seemed early on that a return to the Braves was his preference,” SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson writes (Twitter link), as Wolfson notes that the Twins were willing to offer Greene more money.  This focus on Atlanta could explain why it took until May for Greene to land a contract, as David O’Brien of The Athletic estimated back in mid-March that the Braves were only willing to spend in the neighborhood of $1MM on Greene — given the prorated nature of Greene’s contract, he’ll end up earning around $1.1 or $1.2MM.

More pitching-related items from around baseball…

  • Another Braves/Twins link is explored by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, regarding how Atlanta acquired breakout star Huascar Ynoa from Minnesota back in 2017.  The Braves wanted to move Jaime Garcia at the trade deadline, and initially discussed a trade with the Yankees that would have sent Garcia to the Bronx for then-Yankees prospect Nick Solak.  Once those talks fell through, Atlanta pivoted and sent Garcia to Minnesota, and the Braves “did not do as much diligence on Ynoa as they normally would on a prospect” since their top priority was just to dump the rest of Garcia’s salary.  In fact, Ynoa wasn’t even Atlanta’s first ask from the Twins’ farm system, as Nick Burdi was initially part of the proposed trade.  From being a rather anonymous rookie ball pitcher and an apparent “plan C” type of pickup for the Braves, Ynoa has become an unexpected stalwart of the Atlanta rotation in 2021.  The righty has a 2.23 ERA/3.19 SIERA and an above-average 28.4% strikeout rate and 5.8% walk rate over 40 1/3 innings, plus Ynoa has augmented that pitching production with two home runs and a 1.267 OPS over 15 plate appearances.
  • Pirates right-hander Chad Kuhl threw a live batting practice on Saturday as he continues to recover from right shoulder discomfort.  In a radio interview on 93.7 FM (hat tip to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Pittsburgh GM Ben Cherington said Kuhl will return “before too long” but will first require a minor league rehab assignment.  Kuhl has struggled in his first four starts of the year, posting a 6.32 ERA with more walks (16) than strikeouts (14) over 15 2/3 innings.

Padres Sign Nick Burdi, Nick Ramirez To Minor League Deals

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The Padres have signed right-hander Nick Burdi and lefty Nick Ramirez to minor league contracts, according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The hard-throwing Burdi underwent his second Tommy John surgery in October, so the 27-year-old probably won’t be available to the Padres at all in 2021. A second-round pick of the Twins in 2014, Burdi appeared in the majors with the Pirates in each of the previous three seasons, though he only combined for 12 1/3 innings. He also has just five Triple-A innings under his belt, but Burdi has pitched to a 3.44 ERA with 12.2 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 115 minor league frames.

Ramirez, 31, debuted in 2019 and led the Tigers’ bullpen in innings (79 2/3) that year. He threw another 10 2/3 last season. Overall, Ramirez pitched to a 4.28 ERA/4.71 FIP with 8.47 K/9, 3.89 BB/9 and a 46.2 percent groundball rate in a Tigers uniform. Detroit outrighted him in October.

Pirates Release Dovydas Neverauskas; Nick Burdi Elects Free Agency

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Nov. 9: Burdi has rejected his outright assignment in favor of free agency, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. It’s still possible that he could return to the club on a new minor league deal, of course, but he’ll have the option of speaking with other clubs as he goes through the early stages of his rehab process.

Nov. 7: The Pirates have outrighted right-hander Nick Burdi to Triple-A, according to the MLB.com transactions page.  In another move for the Bucs earlier this week, right-hander Dovydas Neverauskas was released.  Both pitchers were recently designated for assignment.

Burdi will remain in the organization as he recovers from Tommy John surgery in October.  The 27-year-old will miss the entire 2021 season, the latest major injury setback in a career that has already seen Burdi undergo a previous TJ procedure as well as a thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.  Burdi has just 12 1/3 career MLB innings to his name, including 2 1/3 frames of work with Pittsburgh in 2020.

Neverauskas’ release could pave the way for a contract with a team in Asia, as Pirates GM Ben Cherington hinted last Monday.  Originally signed by the Pirates way back in 2009, Neverauskas is still pretty young (turning 28 in January) as he moves into this potential new phase of his pro career.  Over 80 2/3 career Major League innings, Neverauskas posted a 6.81 ERA, 2.20 K/BB, 8.6 K/9, and an ugly 2.2 HR/9.

Nick Burdi Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Pirates announced today that reliever Nick Burdi underwent Tommy John surgery last month. (Adam Berry of MLB.com reported news of the surgery shortly before the team announcement). He has since been designated for assignment, removing him from the 40-man roster.

According to the team, Burdi is expected to be out for sixteen to eighteen months. That’s a longer timetable than most Tommy John patients, perhaps reflecting the right-hander’s troublesome injury history. Burdi underwent a previous Tommy John surgery in 2017, then went under the knife to address thoracic outlet syndrome in 2019. The 27-year-old again went down with a forearm strain mid-season. While Burdi initially attempted to rehab the injury, he instead unfortunately had to undergo TJS a second time.

Health woes have limited Burdi to 12.1 innings over three MLB seasons, all with Pittsburgh. The former second-rounder was a well-regarded prospect coming up in the Twins’ organization but has never had a prolonged opportunity to carve out a big league role.

Nick Burdi Suffers Season-Ending Forearm Strain; Surgery Not Yet Being Considered

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Aug. 12: Burdi won’t require surgery to repair what is being termed as a significant forearm strain, Tomczyk tells reporters (Twitter link via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). The Pirates believe the injury is related to Burdi’s prior TOS procedure. He’ll receive a platelet-rich plasma injection and be shut down for the next 10 to 12 weeks before being reevaluated.

Aug. 5: The Pirates announced today that they’ve placed reliever Nick Burdi on the 45-day injured list. He’s said to be dealing with a right elbow injury. Utilityman JT Riddle has been activated from the injured list to take the open roster spot.

While the full outlook isn’t yet known, this is just wretched news for Burdi. The team already has seen enough to know he won’t be able to return in 2020, director of health medicine Todd Tomczyk told reporters including MLB.com’s Adam Berry (Twitter link).

The 27-year-old flamethrower has dealt with numerous significant arm issues over his halting career. He has already rehabbed through Tommy John and thoracic outlet surgeries. Burdi was once a top 50 draft pick and a high-profile prospect in the Twins’ system, but those arm woes have prevented him from capitalizing on his talents. Burdi has a career 3.44 ERA and better than 12 punchouts per nine innings pitched in the minors. He picked up his first big league save in 2020 and held opponents to a run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.

NL Central Notes: Yelich, Burdi, Moore

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Brewers star Christian Yelich is drawing plaudits for his charitable efforts during the coronavirus pause, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes. He’s playing an active role in both Milwaukee and his native California, with the latter effort an extension of prior work in his home state. “We’re in a fortunate position,” Yelich says of he and his partners in the California Strong foundation (including teammate Ryan Braun). “Not everybody has the ability to have the same reach. We understand that. In tough times, people understand if they can help, they should and they will.”

More from the NL Central:

  • While he’s a total health wild card at this point, Pirates reliever Nick Burdi had shown some signs of a rebound in camp, as Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. His eye-popping fastball has returned after his latest rehab effort — occasioned by surgery that followed a hard-to-watch mid-game injury. Burdi may benefit from an extended layoff, though it seems he was largely back to full strength. The Pirates will have plenty of flexibility in utilizing him once the season gets underway. Burdi still has options remaining and it’s likely that we’ll see temporarily expanded rosters regardless, so he can be handled with care. If the season ends up being wiped out, the 27-year-old will get a full season of service and quality for arbitration, though he’d also have limited earning capacity given his thin MLB track record (just ten innings).
  • The work stoppage has presented an unusual situation for everyone, but it’s actually a continuation for one pitcher. Andrew Moore had thrown remotely after signing a minors deal with the Reds, as Steve Mims of the Register Guard writes. The plan was for the 25-year-old to show up later in spring before heading to one of the top Cincinnati affiliates. Moore is instead continuing to send in his video and other data to the club. You won’t be surprised to learn that he has prior experience with Reds pitching coordinator Kyle Boddy, who has links with many of the hurlers that the organization has inked this winter. Moore is a former second-round pick of the Mariners. He has thrown 63 2/3 total innings of 5.51 ERA ball in the majors with the Seattle club, but was left searching for a career reset after a brutal 2019 showing in which he bounced between multiple organizations and compiled an 8.02 ERA in 101 upper-minors frames.

Nick Burdi Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

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Pirates right-handed reliever Nick Burdi has undergone surgery to relieve symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports. Burdi will miss the rest of 2019, though the hope is that he’ll be ready to resume baseball activities by next spring.

The 26-year-old Burdi hasn’t pitched since April 22, when he exited an outing against the Diamondbacks with what looked like a catastrophic injury. Burdi was then diagnosed with a nerve issue, thus avoiding a second Tommy John surgery. Burdi, a second-round pick of the Twins in 2014, underwent TJS in 2017 and has also dealt with other arm injuries that have kept him from realizing his potential in the majors.

While Burdi avoided another Tommy John procedure, TOS surgery is ominous in its own right. Regardless of how much time Burdi ends up missing because of this surgery, it’s the latest significant step back in a career that hasn’t gotten off the ground because of injuries. A Pirate since they acquired him during the 2017 Rule 5 Draft, Burdi has thrown just 10 major league innings so far.

Pirates Notes: Chisenhall, Cervelli, Kela, Burdi

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We checked in on a couple injured Pirates a few hours ago. Here’s the latest on more banged-up Bucs from their director of sports medicine, Todd Tomczyk (courtesy of Adam Berry of MLB.com):

  • The Pirates signed outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall to a one-year, $2.75MM deal in the offseason, but he hasn’t played yet and it doesn’t appear he will anytime soon. Chisenhall’s still at home mending from left calf tightness. The 30-year-old opened the season on the injured list because of a finger issue, and not long after he started a rehab assignment April 19, the team shut him down because of the calf problem. The same calf prevented Chisenhall from playing past July 1 last year – his final season with the Indians.
  • Catcher Francisco Cervelli, out since May 26 with a concussion, will be reexamined by a neurologist on Thursday. He still hasn’t been cleared for workouts. Cervelli’s season got off to a poor start even before his latest concussion-caused absence, while fellow Pirates backstops Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings have also posted subpar aggregate production. Diaz has hit well over the past month, though.
  • While Reliever Keone Kela hasn’t taken a major league mound since May 4, he could start throwing again Thursday or Friday. Kela had gone on a rehab stint toward the end of last month, but the Pirates halted it May 31 after he suffered a setback in his injured right shoulder. A headline-grabbing acquisition for the Pirates last summer, the 26-year-old Kela has struggled to a 4.63 ERA/5.63 FIP with 8.49 K/9, 3.09 BB/9 and a 37.1 percent groundball rate in 11 2/3 innings this season.
  • One of Keone’s fellow righty relievers, Nick Burdi, has returned to throwing. However, he’s still dealing with symptoms from the nerve injury that forced him to the IL almost two months ago. Burdi incurred his injury April 22 in his most recent outing. The flamethrowing 26-year-old had begun the season in encouraging fashion prior to that night, when he allowed five earned runs in a third of an inning and saw his ERA go from 4.32 to 9.35. Although an ERA that ugly is hard to ignore, it’s worth noting Burdi has put up a stellar 17:3 K:BB ratio in 8 2/3 innings this season.

Nick Burdi Diagnosed With Nerve Injury

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Pirates reliever Nick Burdi has been diagnosed with a nerve injury in his pitching arm, team director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk told reporters including MLB.com’s Adam Berry (Twitter link). He’ll remain shut down until at least early June.

That’s relatively promising news for the 26-year-old righty, who left his most recent appearance in agony after suffering an arm injury. It had emerged already that Burdi had avoided the worst-case scenario of a torn ulnar collateral ligament, though initial indications were that there was some physical damage around the elbow joint.

Now, it seems the primary cause of the pain in Burdi’s biceps was this nerve issue — the details of which are not yet known. Several pitchers have undergone procedures in recent seasons to address nerve ailments in their pitching arms. It is not clear that a surgical approach is a consideration at the moment.

It would be heartening to see Burdi bounce back physically and return to the MLB hill this year. His career trajectory has been hampered to date by injuries, but he was throwing quite well before the game in which he went down. Burdi produced 17 strikeouts against just two walks with a 20.1% swinging-strike rate over his ten prior appearances on the season.

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