Wolfe: “Market Size Isn’t A Factor” In Sasaki’s Decision
Wasserman’s Joel Wolfe, the agent for NPB star Roki Sasaki, tells SNY’s Andy Martino that “market size isn’t a factor either way” in the player’s decision. At the Winter Meetings, the agent opined that Sasaki may prefer going to a smaller market after clashing with media members in Japan. However, Wolfe stressed at the time that was his own opinion and that he and Sasaki had yet to discuss the matter in depth. It seems the pitcher isn’t giving that any weight.
Sasaki has conducted initial meetings with at least seven teams, most of whom are big-market franchises. Previous reports indicated he met with Dodgers, Rangers, Yankees, Mets and Cubs. The Giants are believed to have gotten a meeting as well. Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports today that the Padres were also granted a meeting during Sasaki’s trip to the U.S. earlier this month.
Wolfe met with various reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday and Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register) this evening to provide details on the process. He indicated that all in-person meetings occurred at Wasserman’s offices in Los Angeles. Wolfe declined to specify how many teams were involved. He said that 20 clubs sent initial presentations via PowerPoint, video or books to express interest.
It seems that each meeting followed specific protocols. According to Wolfe, Sasaki specifically requested that teams did not bring any players. He also limited each conversation to the same amount of time (less than two hours), ostensibly to keep every team on an equal footing. As planned, Sasaki then returned to Japan for the holidays.
It isn’t clear if any teams beyond the reported seven have met with Sasaki. Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said last week that Detroit made an initial pitch, though as of Friday, they hadn’t heard back on whether they’d get a meeting. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said this morning that Boston was in a similar position (relayed by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe).
Wolfe did not close the door on granting another team or two an initial sit-down, though the agent indicated that they’d soon start to narrow the field (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). Sasaki has not visited any team’s cities — aside from his stay in L.A. because Wasserman is headquartered there — but could do so after the New Year.
The signing period for international amateur free agents opens on January 15. That’s the date at which Sasaki is first eligible to sign. His 45-day posting window runs through January 23, however. Wolfe indicated that Sasaki may not have made a decision by the opening of the signing window and could take things right up to the posting deadline. While the agent didn’t highlight this as a reason, that would give MLB teams just over a week to trade for international signing bonus allotments that’d increase what they’re able to offer Sasaki. Teams can acquire up to 60% of the initial value of their respective bonus pools. Teams have varying initial pool allotments, all of which land between $5.1462MM and $7.5555MM.
Padres Sign Mike Brosseau
The Padres have agreed to a deal with infielder Mike Brosseau, as announced by his Icon Sports Management agent Joe Rosen. While not specified by Rosen, it can be assumed that Brosseau signed a minor league contract.
Brosseau has a career .242/.313/.428 slash line in 647 career big league plate appearances with the Rays and Brewers from 2019-23. Primarily a second and third baseman during his five MLB seasons, Brosseau has also seen action at first base, shortstop, and both corner outfield slots, with this versatility making him a useful part-time roster piece. He also provided good numbers at the plate in his first two seasons and in 2022, which was his first season in Milwaukee.
Unfortunately for Brosseau, he struggled to a .654 OPS in 78 PA in 2023, leading the Brewers to outright him off the roster that July and then release him so Brosseau could pursue a deal in Japan with the Chiba Lotte Marines. The 37-game stint in NPB didn’t work out for Brosseau and he returned to North American baseball in 2024, hitting .263/.356/.417 over 405 combined PA with the Triple-A affiliates of the Royals and Mets.
Padres first baseman Luis Arraez and second baseman Jake Cronenworth are both left-handed hitters, as are projected backups Tyler Wade and Trenton Brooks. Brosseau could be viewed as a complement to Wade to give the Padres some utility infield coverage on both sides of the plate, and both Wade and Brosseau can play all over the diamond. Brosseau also has a minor league option year remaining, giving San Diego some potential flexibility in moving him back and forth from Triple-A over the course of the season.
Padres Re-Sign Logan Gillaspie To Minors Deal
The Padres signed right-hander Logan Gillaspie to a minor league contract earlier this month, as initially reported by the Mad Friars website. The 27-year-old Gillaspie will return for his second season with the organization, after the Padres non-tendered him in November to create 40-man roster space.
Gillaspie had a 4.10 ERA over 26 1/3 innings and 28 appearances for the Orioles in 2022-23 before the Red Sox claimed him off waivers in September 2023. This stint in Boston didn’t result in any big league playing time and didn’t last long in general, as San Diego picked him up in another waiver claim just two months later. The Padres optioned Gillaspie back and forth from Triple-A the maximum five times, and the shuffle of assignments might have impacted his performance — Gillaspie had a 7.15 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over nine appearances with San Diego.
On the plus side, Gillaspie had a 3.77 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate across 45 1/3 innings with Triple-A El Paso. These decent numbers look even better within the context of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, and they represent a step up from Gillaspie’s Triple-A performances in 2022-23. That said, Gillaspie’s strikeout numbers have ticked downwards over the last two seasons while he has allowed a few more walks.
Gillaspie is out of minor league options, so if the Padres were to select his contract to the active roster next season, the team would have to try and sneak him through waivers in order to send him back to Triple-A. This could leave Gillaspie in another form of roster limbo if his 2025 campaign ends up being a flurry of DFAs and outright assignments, but for now, he’ll continue to operate as minor league bullpen depth in the Padres’ system.
Padres Sign Jose Espada To Minor League Contract
The Padres signed right-hander Jose Espada to a minor league deal earlier this month, as first reported by the Mad Friars website. It’s a reunion between the two sides, as the 27-year-old Espada pitched for San Diego during the 2022-23 seasons before joining the Yakult Swallows last offseason.
The move to Japan wasn’t as much of a showcase as Espada had hoped, as he posted a 5.00 ERA over 27 relief innings for the Swallows. His strikeout rate plummeted to just 13.56%, in a rather stark dropoff from the 26.59K% he posted over 374 career innings in the minor leagues. While his numbers with the Swallows’ minor league team were much better, Espada had already displayed plenty of quality in the affiliated minors, including a 2.79 ERA in 19 1/3 innings with the Padres’ Triple-A affiliate in 2023.
Impressive numbers at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels allowed Espada to make his MLB debut in 2023, in the form of a single cup-of-coffee outing. Espada recorded two strikeouts and two walks in a scoreless inning of mop-up work in the Padres’ 12-2 rout of the Cardinals on September 24, 2023. That brief outing was the high point of a pro career that began as a fifth-round pick for the Blue Jays in the 2015 draft, and Espada also had stints in the Red Sox farm system and in independent ball as well as his time with the Padres and Swallows.
Espada has had issues with his control but has long been able to miss bats, making his diminished strikeout numbers in NPB all the more puzzling. A return to the familiar environment of Triple-A El Paso might help him get back on track, while from the Padres’ perspective, they’ll add a known quantity to their list of bullpen depth arms.
Mariners Made Two-Year Offer To Carlos Santana
The Guardians made a splash over the weekend by signing first baseman Carlos Santana to a one-year deal worth $12MM, bringing the long-time Cleveland staple back into the fold for the third time in his career. With that being said, however, it wasn’t the only contract offer Santana received during his free agency. According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic this morning, the Mariners extended an offer to Santana that came with more guaranteed money than the one he landed in Cleveland. Rosenthal also cited the Yankees, Mets, Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Rangers, and Padres among clubs that had interest in the switch-hitter before he ultimately landed in Cleveland.
Regarding Seattle’s offer, Rosenthal specifies that not only did the deal come with more guaranteed money, but it actually involved a player option for the 2026 season, allowing Santana to either opt out and return to free agency or remain with the club. It’s somewhat surprising to hear that a club was willing to guarantee a second guaranteed year to Santana, who will celebrate his 39th birthday in early April. Rosenthal describes the Mariners as Santana’s “initial priority” until the Guardians realized that they could trade Josh Naylor to another Santana suitor, the Diamondbacks. At that point, the Guardians offered Santana (who had coincidentally just sold his Cleveland area home) the one-year deal he went on to sign.
The Mariners briefly acquired Santana from the Phillies during the 2018-19 offseason but flipped him to Cleveland shortly thereafter, before he ever suited up for the club. He eventually returned to the organization in 2022 after being traded there by the Royals, and this time his stay lasted 79 games. In 294 trips to the plate for Seattle, Santana hit .192/.293/.400. Despite that sub-Mendoza Line batting average, Santana’s performance was actually good for an above-average 103 wRC+ thanks to a strong 11.9% walk rate and the 15 home runs he clobbered down the stretch for the club.
That half-season stint evidently made enough of an impression with the Mariners that they were interested in a reunion as they searched for first base help this winter. Earlier this winter, the Mariners were reportedly pursuing a reunion with either Carlos Santana or Justin Turner at first base. Turner is still available, though it’s unclear whether that interest on Seattle’s end has persisted as the first base market has shifted in recent days. Of the six teams besides Cleveland that Rosenthal noted had interest in Santana’s services, three of them have found solutions in the days since: the Rangers replaced Nathaniel Lowe with Joc Pederson, the Yankees signed Paul Goldschmidt, and of course the Diamondbacks traded for Naylor and opened the door for Santana to re-sign in Cleveland.
For the Mariners, Mets, and Padres, there’s still a number of interesting first base options available. Turner has been a reliably above average hitter 11 consecutive seasons now but celebrated his 40th birthday last month, a reality that could give some teams pause about committing to him as a regular option if they can’t offer significant time at DH as well. Pete Alonso is of course the top free agent available at first base, though barring a sudden change in plans by the Padres or Mariners it seems unlikely he would fit the budgets rumored to be in play for San Diego and Seattle. Anthony Rizzo, Mark Canha, Josh Bell, and Yuli Gurriel are among a number of veteran options at the position who could likely be had on a low-cost deal, and the trade market offers the possibility that the Giants could part ways with LaMonte Wade Jr. or perhaps even a deal with the Rays involving Yandy Diaz, who hasn’t been the subject of many trade rumors this winter but appeared to be available prior to this summer’s trade deadline.
Wil Myers Ends Playing Career
Wil Myers has decided to call it a career after 11 big league seasons, the longtime Padres first baseman/outfielder told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell. While Myers stressed that he wouldn’t ever “officially” retire, he made his decision in June 2023 after he’d been released by the Reds and was dealing with some shoulder problems.
“I had a great career. I loved what I did. I made a lot of great friends. I have no regrets,” Myers said. “If you had told me the day I was drafted that this would be your career, I would’ve taken it in a heartbeat. I loved what I did, and now it’s just kind of onto the next chapter of life.”
Myers, who just recently turned 34, will hang up his glove after an even 1100 career games with the Rays, Padres, and Reds from 2013-23. Myers hit .252/.326/.437 with 156 home runs over 4290 plate appearances, good for a 107 wRC+ during his time in the Show. He spent the majority of his time in the field as a first baseman and right fielder, but also with a big chunk of time at the other two outfield positions and some time at third base (primarily in 2018, when the Padres had several first base/outfield types they were trying to fit into the lineup).
A third-round pick for the Royals in the 2009 draft, Myers quickly became one of baseball’s most highly-touted prospects, and made headlines before his MLB career even began due to his involvement in a blockbuster trade. In December 2012, the Royals sent Myers, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and third-base prospect Patrick Leonard to Tampa Bay in exchange for James Shields, Wade Davis, and Elliot Johnson. Kansas City’s farm system was viewed as deep enough that it could afford to move even a top prospect like Myers in exchange for win-now help, and the decision paid off — K.C. won the AL pennant in both 2014 and 2015, and Davis was one of the relief aces of the Royals’ 2015 World Series title team.
For the Rays, the deal paid some immediate dividends, as Myers won AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2013 on the strength of 13 homers and a .293/.354/.478 slash line over 373 plate appearances. However, Myers then battled wrist injuries and the sophomore slump in 2014, leading to his involvement in an even bigger trade. The Rays, Padres, and Nationals combined on a mammoth three-team, 11-player deal that is perhaps best remembered today as the swap that brought Trea Turner to Washington (and thus setting the table for the Nats’ 2019 World Series championship).
From Myers’ perspective, the deal kicked off an eight-year run in San Diego that was overall a success, albeit with plenty of ups and downs. Much of his time with the Padres is viewed through the lens of the six-year, $83MM extension he signed prior to the 2017 season, which at the time was the largest contract in San Diego franchise history. The big salary inevitably led to higher expectations that Myers didn’t entirely fulfill, as injuries and a propensity for strikeouts limited Myers’ production.
That said, Myers still had plenty of notable performances over the length of the deal. Myers was an All-Star in 2016, hit 30 homers during the 2017 season, and was one of the best hitters in baseball during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. That 2020 campaign was particularly notable since the Padres earned a wild card berth, marking San Diego’s first postseason appearance since 2006 and the official end of the team’s lengthy rebuild. Ironically, Myers’ contract made him difficult to trade amidst the Padres’ other cost-cutting moves, and as a result, Myers ended up being “the one player on hand for the entirety of the franchise’s turnaround,” Cassavell writes.
As the 2022 season rolled along, Myers became a part-time player and was again hampered by injuries, so it was no surprise when the Padres declined their $20MM club option on Myers’ services for the 2023 season. A free agent for the first time in his career, Myers landed in Cincinnati on a one-year deal worth $7.5MM in guaranteed money, but he hit only .189/.257/.283 in 141 PA over what will end up as his final season in the majors.
MLBTR congratulates Myers on a fine career and we wish him all the best in his post-playing endeavors.
John Seidler To Take Over As Padres’ Control Person
Just over a year after the sudden passing of Padres owner Peter Seidler, the organization has its new control person. While Seidler’s business partner Eric Kutsenda took over as interim control person in the immediate aftermath of Seidler’s death, he’ll now be succeeded more permanently by John Seidler according to a report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Kutsenda will remain part of the organization and the rest of the team’s senior leadership will remain in their current roles. Seidler’s ascent to title of control person will need to receive the approval from the league before it becomes official.
Seidler, 65, is the brother of the Padres’ previous owner and is among the members of the Seidler family who collectively hold what Acee notes is believed to be a 45% stake in the team. Previous reports have indicated that Peter Seidler intended for his family to maintain ownership of the Padres for generations to come and that the club intended to proceed with that plan following his death. John Seidler taking the reins of the organization appears to be the latest move toward making that plan a reality, and Acee added that a source familiar with the family’s plans confirmed to him that the Seidler family intends to own the Padres for “a long time.”
“Since Peter’s passing, Eric Kutsenda has served as our interim control person,” the Padres said in a statement provided to Acee. “Peter’s youngest brother Matt, as trustee of Peter’s trust, is pleased to announce that John Seidler, Peter’s oldest sibling, an accomplished entrepreneur and business executive, will be the Padres’ next control person, pending approval by Major League Baseball.
Peter never viewed the Padres as ‘his’ team. Instead, he saw the team as an asset of the community of which he was a faithful steward. John shares Peter’s vision and will continue to strengthen and nurture this great franchise, its players, fans and employees, and the entire San Diego community.”
Importantly, Acee notes that the upcoming changing of the guard at the top of the Padres organization is not expected to impact the club’s plans on the field in terms of payroll. In its final years under Peter Seidler, the Padres organization had operated hefty payrolls in hopes of speeding up the club’s timeline for contention, but starting last offseason began to lower payroll to something closer to the middle of the pack. Acee adds that the Padres believe that their current model for payroll is “more sustainable” and that it figures to continue going forward with John Seidler now at the helm.
For the 2025 season, that likely means the club’s payroll will need to come down as compared to current projections. RosterResource projects a $210MM payroll for the club next season as things stand, which is $41MM higher than last year’s $169MM figure. While previous reporting has indicated that the club has room to increase the budget beyond its 2024 level, that increase is expected to be marginal and leave the club to ponder trading pricey arbitration-level players such as Dylan Cease and Luis Arráez.
MLBTR Podcast: Kyle Tucker To The Cubs, And Trades For Devin Williams And Jeffrey Springs
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Cubs acquiring Kyle Tucker from the Astros for Isaac Paredes, Hayden Wesneski and Cam Smith (1:45)
- The Yankees acquiring Devin Williams from the Brewers for Nestor Cortes and Caleb Durbin (17:20)
- The Athletics acquiring Jeffrey Springs and Jacob Lopez from the Rays for Joe Boyle a draft pick and two prospects (27:55)
- The Orioles signing Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year deal (36:00)
- The hot pitching market could push pitchers onto the trade market, including Luis Castillo of the Mariners, Dylan Cease of the Padres and Jesús Luzardo of the Marlins (40:25)
Check out our past episodes!
- Winter Meetings Recap – listen here
- Blake Snell, Dodger Fatigue, And The Simmering Hot Stove – listen here
- Yusei Kikuchi, The Aggressive Angels, And The Brady Singer/Jonathan India Trade – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Padres Have Considered Luis Arráez Trade
The Padres seem to have a budget crunch and are considering all kinds of options for how to stop feeling the squeeze. It was reported this week that they have been exploring the possibility of trading right-hander Dylan Cease and now Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that they have discussed trading infielder Luis Arráez. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that they have received inquires on Cease, Arráez and Xander Bogaerts as well.
It was reported this week that the club was probably going to have to drop its payroll commitments. They had a $169MM payroll in 2024 but RosterResource currently projects them to be at $210MM next year. It’s not known exactly where they need to wind up, but it should be somewhere in between those two numbers. Acee’s report from today suggests that Preller can be above $169MM but not by much. Trading prospects doesn’t seem to be a strong consideration since the club has done a lot of that in recent years. The farm is still highlighted by Leodalis De Vries and Ethan Salas but all reports have suggested those two are fairly untouchable.
That’s a tricky situation since the Friars need to upgrade at catcher, in an outfield corner and in the rotation. Doing so while also cutting spending is a difficult tightrope to walk. It’s a similar situation to last winter, when the Padres also had to scale back the budget but had notable concerns about the pitching depth and outfield.
President of baseball operations A.J. Preller somehow made it work by trading Juan Soto to the Yankees for a pile of pitchers, including Michael King and Drew Thorpe, with the latter then used to acquire Cease. They also moved shortstop prospect Jackson Merrill to center field, skipping him over Triple-A, and struck gold by signing Jurickson Profar for just $1MM. They ended up having a good season and getting back into the playoffs but now face another tough balancing act.
Bogaerts, Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish are all making big money but those contracts are hard to move, both because the players are key parts of the roster and each has a full no-trade clause. Cease and Arráez, however, have no such protection and both are controlled for just one more season via arbitration. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects Arráez for a salary of $14.6MM next year and Cease for $13.7MM.
That amount of money is perhaps a sweet spot. The players should have surplus value, meaning they would generate interest from other clubs, but the numbers are also big enough where a trade would reduce San Diego’s payroll by a notable amount.
It will be a delicate line for Preller to walk, especially with Cease. The rotation is already thin as it is, with Musgrove slated to miss most or all of 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery. There’s a strong front three of Cease, King and Darvish but question marks after that. Moving Cease could save some money and bring back a return of some kind, but it would make the rotation depth even thinner. Getting Roki Sasaki would be ideal since he’s very good and will be limited to a small signing bonus, but there’s no guarantees there and it will be another month before there’s clarity on the situation.
One thing that could help is converting a reliever to a full-time starting role, as they did with King last year and Seth Lugo before. AJ Cassavell of MLB.com relays that Preller has identified Adrián Morejón, Bryan Hoeing and Stephen Kolek as candidates for such a move.
MLBTR looked into the possibility of stretching out Morejón in October, though MLBTR readers were fairly split on the idea, with a slight majority favoring him staying in the bullpen. The argument for stretching him out is that he was once a highly-regarded starting pitching prospect before getting derailed by injuries. In 2024, he was healthy enough to avoid the IL all year, tossing 63 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with a 2.83 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate and 51.4% ground ball rate. The Padres could just keep him in that role since it worked for him but they could also view that healthy season as a springboard to a larger workload in 2025.
Neither Hoeing nor Kolek had the same prospect pedigree as Morejón but both have largely worked in relief after coming up as starters in the minors. Hoeing tossed 53 2/3 innings in 2024 with a 2.18 ERA, 20.5% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 48.3% ground ball rate. Kolek tossed 46 2/3 innings with a 5.21 ERA, 18.5% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 55.9% ground ball rate.
Any of the three would be far cheaper than Cease. Hoeing and Kolek are still in their pre-arbitration years. Morejón’s injuries have limited him to modest $1.8MM projection for next year even though he has more than four years of service time. That price point is attractive but there’s obviously big risk in flipping an established starter like Cease and hoping for these guys to slot in for him.
With Arráez, it’s a bit easier to see the logic. Without him, the club could have an infield of Machado, Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth from left to right. Finding a passable first baseman for less than what Arráez is slated to make is more plausible than replacing Cease with a pitcher of similar quality. They could flip Arráez for whatever clubs are willing to offer in return, then theoretically sign someone like Donovan Solano, Carlos Santana or Justin Turner for less money.
But on the other hand, the teams interested in Arráez could also look to those options as reasons to not give up much in trade. Despite winning three straight batting titles, Arráez is a fairly limited player since he’s not a strong defender, doesn’t walk much and doesn’t provide power. He’s certainly useful but Acee suggests Cease is more likely to move because the prices on starting pitching have been aggressive this winter, meaning he would have more interest than Arráez despite having essentially the same projected salary.
The Bogaerts possibility in interesting but the least likely of the three to come together. As mentioned, he has a full no-trade clause and would have to approve any deal. He’s also set to make $25MM annually for another nine years, leaving $225MM left on his deal. Heyman suggests that the strong spending this winter makes the deal look more attractive than before, but that’s still an underwater deal.
Bogaerts is three years older than Willy Adames, who just got a guarantee of $182MM from the Giants. He’s also coming off a down year in which he missed time due to injury and slashed .264/.307/.381 for a 95 wRC+. His shortstop defense has also been questionable enough that the Padres moved him to second base in deference to Ha-Seong Kim, though he did retake the position late in the year when Kim was hurt. Even if the Padres found a taker for Bogaerts, it would create a shortstop vacancy and add another item to the to-do list. Re-signing Kim is theoretically possible but he’s still recovering from shoulder surgery and might not be a factor in the first half of the season. The free agent market doesn’t have any more clear-cut everyday options.
Speculatively speaking, it’s a bit easier to see this kind of thing with Cronenworth, who had been in trade rumors in the past. Going into 2023, he and the Padres agreed to a seven-year, $80MM extension for the 2024-30 seasons. He then had a down year in 2023 and the Friars looked into moving him during last winter’s budget crunch but didn’t get anything done. He bounced back with a .241/.324/.390 showing in 2024 for a 105 wRC+, much better than his .229/.312/.378 line and 91 wRC+ in 2023.
He is still owed $71MM over the next six years but that’s less than a third of the money left on the Bogaerts deal. Cronenworth is also a bit younger, turning 31 in January. Trading him would open a hole at second base for the Friars, unless they are willing to play Arráez there, but free agency features Gleyber Torres, Jose Iglesias, Jorge Polanco and other possible replacements.
There are many factors for Preller to balance as he puts together next year’s club, but it’s at least a position he’s familiar with. Naturally, how he proceeds will depend on what other clubs are offering for Cease or Arráez or other players, but it will interesting to see him juggle all the different elements.
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.