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2020 Rule 5 Draft Update

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An abnormal number of picks from the 2020 Rule 5 Draft survived Spring Training and made the Opening Day rosters with their new clubs. The Orioles and Marlins both broke camp with a pair of Rule 5 picks on the active roster, while the Pirates opened the season with one Rule 5 pick on the roster and one on the injured list. Most clubs that are carrying a Rule 5 pick, unsurprisingly, have little in the way of postseason aspirations. There are a few October hopefuls among those still clinging to Rule 5 picks, however, and it’ll take some uncharacteristically strong Rule 5 showings for those players to survive the season.

We’ll take a look at how the surviving Rule 5 draftees are faring periodically throughout the year. Here’s the first glance…

Currently in the Majors

  • Brett de Geus, RHP, Rangers (via Dodgers): Injuries throughout the Rangers’ bullpen might have helped the 23-year-old de Geus crack the Opening Day roster in Texas. He’s out to a shaky start, having walked three batters and hit another three against just two strikeouts through his first 5 2/3 innings. On the plus side, 13 of the 15 balls put into play against him have been grounders.
  • Akil Baddoo, OF, Tigers (via Twins): Baddoo is one of the best stories (maybe the best) of the young 2021 season. The 22-year-old homered on his first swing in the big leagues as his family rejoiced in the stands, and in less than two weeks’ time he’s added a grand slam, a walk-off single (against his former organization) a 450-foot dinger off Zack Greinke and a fourth homer. Baddoo has a ludicrous 1.342 OPS through his first 29 plate appearances in the Majors, and while he obviously won’t sustain that, he’s forcing a legitimate audition in the Detroit outfield. Baddoo missed nearly all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and didn’t play in 2020. Despite that layoff and the fact that he’d never played above A-ball, the Tigers called his name in December. It may have seemed like a stretch at the time, but it doesn’t look that way now.
  • Garrett Whitlock, RHP, Red Sox (via Yankees): The Sox would surely love for Whitlock to stick, having plucked him from their archrivals in New York. So far, so good. Better than good, in fact. Through 6 1/3 scoreless innings, Whitlock has yielded three hits and punched out nine batters without issuing a walk. He’s sitting 95.6 mph with his heater and has posted a hefty 16.9 percent swinging-strike rate. Whitlock also had Tommy John surgery in 2019, so even though he’s previously been a starter, it makes sense to monitor his workload ease him into the mix as the Sox hope to get through the year with him in the ’pen.
  • Tyler Wells, RHP, Orioles (via Twins): Wells has allowed a pair of homers and surrendered three total runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 frames. The O’s aren’t trying to win in 2021, but their bullpen also has four arms that can’t be optioned (Cesar Valdez, Shawn Armstrong, Adam Plutko, Wade LeBlanc). Keeping both Wells and Mac Sceroler (currently on the IL) brings them  to six and will hamper their flexibility.
  • Zach Pop and Paul Campbell, RHPs, Marlins (via Orioles and Rays): Pop was technically the D-backs’ pick in the Rule 5, but Arizona immediately flipped him to the Marlins for a PTBNL. The 24-year-old didn’t allow an earned run in five spring frames but as I was finishing this post, he served up a three-run homer, bringing his season line to seven runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batters in 3 1/3 innings. Campbell has struggled to a similar extent. He’s surrendered five runs (three earned) and given up four hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings. With the Marlins out of tank mode, it’ll be tough to carry both all year.
  • Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Rockies (via Dodgers): Sheffield was the No. 36 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, but control issues prevented him from being protected on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gives Sheffield three plus pitches in his scouting report (fastball, curveball, changeup) but also pegs his command at a 30 on the 20-80 scale. Sheffield has walked or plunked 15 percent of the hitters he faced in the minors. He’s yet to walk anyone 13 batters he’s faced with the Rockies, but he did hit one and has also tossed a pair of wild pitches. That said, he’s also sitting 95.5 mph with his heater and is unscored upon in 3 2/3 frames.
  • Luis Oviedo, RHP, Pirates (via Indians): Oviedo was the Mets’ pick at No. 10, but they had a deal worked out to flip him to the Pirates in exchange for cash. Oviedo has been hammered for six runs on six hits (two homers) and two walks with five strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings so far. Even pitching for a tanking club, Oviedo will need to show some improvement in order to stick on the roster all season.
  • Will Vest, RHP, Mariners (via Tigers): The Mariners kept last year’s Rule 5 pick Yohan Ramirez for the whole season, but it’ll be tougher to do with a full schedule in 2021. The Mariners’ young core is also beginning to rise to the big leagues, and Vest will need to fend off some intriguing young arms. He’s done a decent job so far, allowing a pair of runs (one unearned) on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
  • Trevor Stephan, RHP, Indians (via Yankees): Stephan whiffed 16 of 44 hitters this spring to earn a spot on the Indians’ Opening Day roster, but he’s allowed four runs in his first four MLB frames. The 25-year-old has surrendered five hits (including a homer), walked a pair and hit a batter so far while facing a total of 21 hitters.
  • Ka’ai Tom, OF, Athletics (via Indians): Tom, 26, raked at a .310/.412/.552 pace with a homer, two doubles and a triple in 34 spring plate appearances. After that strong audition, however, he’s just 1-for-16 with six strikeouts through his first 16 trips to the plate with the A’s.

On the Major League injured list

  • Jose Soriano, RHP, Pirates (via Angels): It wasn’t a surprise to see Soriano open the year on the injured list. He’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in Feb. 2020 and didn’t pitch in a game with the Pirates this spring. He’ll be sidelined for at least the first two months, as the Bucs put him on the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot when they signed Tyler Anderson. Soriano hasn’t pitched above A-ball, but the Pirates aren’t exactly a win-now club, so they can afford to stash him as a seldom-used bullpen piece in order to secure his rights beyond the 2021 season.
  • Mac Sceroler, RHP, Orioles (via Reds): Sceroler fanned six hitters in 3 2/3 innings early in the season but also yielded three runs on five hits (two homers), three walks and a hit batter. The Orioles recently placed him on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder, although it’s not expected to be too lengthy an absence.
  • Dedniel Nunez, RHP, Giants (via Mets): Nunez was hit hard in the Cactus League, surrendering four runs in 3 1/3 innings. He’ll now miss the entire 2021 season after sustaining a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery this spring. Nunez will spend the season on San Francisco’s 60-day injured list and receive a year of MLB service, but he’ll still be subject to Rule 5 restrictions in 2022 once he’s healthy. He’ll need to spend at least 90 days on the MLB roster before he can be sent to the minors; if he doesn’t last that long, he’ll have to pass through waivers and, if he clears, be offered back to the Mets.

Returned to their original club

  • Jose Alberto Rivera, RHP, Angels (via Astros): The Angels didn’t take much of a look at Rivera, returning him to Houston on March 24 after just one inning of official work in Cactus League play.
  • Kyle Holder, SS, Reds (via Yankees): The Reds weren’t sure who their shortstop was going to be heading into Spring Training, but they ultimately settled on moving Eugenio Suarez back to that spot, sliding Mike Moustakas back to third base and giving prospect Jonathan India the nod at second base. A strong spring from Holder might have at least given him a bench spot behind that trio, but he hit just .219/.359/.250 in 39 plate appearances. The Reds returned him to the Yankees on March 30.
  • Gray Fenter, RHP, Cubs (via Orioles): The Cubs returned Fenter to the Orioles on March 12 after just one spring appearance. He hasn’t pitched above A-ball yet.
  • Dany Jimenez, RHP, Athletics (via Blue Jays): The 27-year-old Jimenez was a Rule 5 pick in consecutive offseasons — once by each Bay Area club. The A’s returned him to the Jays on March 15, however, after he yielded four runs (two earned) in three innings of work this spring.

Rangers Place Ronald Guzman On 10-Day IL, Select Adolis Garcia

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The Rangers have placed first baseman/outfielder Ronald Guzman on the 10-day injured list with a meniscus cartilage tear in his right knee, per a team announcement. In other moves, the team selected outfielder Adolis Garcia’s contract and transferred injured right-hander Matt Bush from the 10-day IL to the 60-day version.

It isn’t known yet whether Guzman will require surgery, but either way, it seems likely he’ll miss a fair amount of time. Guzman suffered the injury Monday during his first career start in left field and had to leave on a cart. It’s the latest tough development for the 26-year-old, who has generally struggled to produce dating back to his 2018 debut. Guzman took 17 trips to the plate this year before suffering the injury and batted just .063/.118/.250.

Garcia, whom the Rangers acquired from the Cardinals in 2019, saw brief major league action over the prior two seasons. He has hit .087/.125/.130 in 24 PA.

Jonathan Hernandez Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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Rangers right-hander Jonathan Hernandez underwent Tommy John surgery on Monday, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. He won’t return to the mound until sometime in 2022. Meanwhile, fellow Rangers righty reliever Matt Bush will miss at least 12 weeks with a flexor strain.

It’s an unfortunate but not unexpected development for Hernandez, who has been on the shelf since March 9 with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. The surgery will at least temporarily derail a promising career, as Hernandez established himself as a key part of the Texas bullpen last season. Thanks in part to a fastball that averaged about 98 mph, the 24-year-old Hernandez registered a 2.90 ERA/3.67 SIERA with a 24.8 percent strikeout rate and a 6.4 percent walk rate over 31 innings – by far the most of any Rangers reliever.

While Bush doesn’t need surgery at this point, it doesn’t mean he’ll avoid going under the knife, with Grant writing that the Rangers will re-evaluate him in six weeks. Bush has already undergone two Tommy John surgeries in the past, and another could be a fatal blow to the 35-year-old’s career. A No. 1 overall pick of the Padres in 2004 and an ex-infielder, Bush reinvented himself as a reliever and had a strong run with the Rangers from 2016-17. But Bush threw just 23 innings from 2018-20 – none during the latter two seasons – and only logged three innings this year before suffering another arm injury.

Matt Bush Lands On IL With Elbow Issue

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  • The Rangers sent righty reliever Matt Bush to the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his pitching elbow, the team announced. He’ll undergo an MRI, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Bush has already undergone Tommy John surgery twice, so if he needs a third procedure, it could be a death blow to his career. The 35-year-old missed the previous two campaign because of arm problems, and though he was able to work his way back to the Rangers’ bullpen this season, he yielded three earned runs in as many innings before going to the IL.

Rangers' Prioritized Talent Return In Odor Deal

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Yankees Acquire Rougned Odor

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4:58pm: The Yankees will pay Odor the prorated minimum this year ($570,500) and next, but that money will not count against their luxury tax bill, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets.

2:32pm: The teams have announced the trade. The Rangers acquired outfielders Josh Stowers and Antonio Cabello in return for Odor and cash. Notably, Texas announced Cabello as a catcher/outfielder, though he’s played exclusively the outfield in his minor league career to date. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN ranked Cabello as the Yankees’ 18th-best prospect, tweeting that he has the necessary tools for both center field and catcher. Cabello, whom the Yankees signed out of Venezuela for $1.4MM in 2017, hasn’t climbed above rookie ball yet, though he’s still just 20 years old. He owns a .251/.344/.409 line with eight home runs in 443 professional plate appearances.

Stowers, 24, has now been part of two trades during his career. He was originally a second-round pick of the Mariners in 2018, but they dealt him to the Yankees as part of a three-team deal that also included the Reds and centered on righty Sonny Gray. Stowers slashed an impressive .273/.386/.400 with seven homers and 35 steals in Single-A ball in 2019, his lone season in the New York organization. However, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote over the winter that he doesn’t expect Stowers to max out as more than a fourth outfielder in the bigs.

1:22pm: The Yankees are sending a pair of prospects to the Rangers in the deal, tweets Sherman.

1:05pm: The Yankees and Rangers are finalizing a trade that will second second baseman Rougned Odor to New York, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (via Twitter). The Rangers designated Odor, who has two years and $27MM remaining on his contract, for assignment prior to Opening Day. Given that substantial commitment and the Yankees’ general aversion to paying the luxury tax, the Rangers are surely offsetting the majority of Odor’s contract in some capacity. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the two sides have agreed to a deal.

It’s a bit surprising to see the Yankees taking on Odor, although it’s hard to imagine a park better suited for the 27-year-old lefty hitter’s pull-happy approach than Yankee Stadium. Odor’s strikeout rates have climbed continually since he signed an ill-fated six-year, $49.5MM extension with the Rangers, and generally been a poor all-around performer due to significant on-base deficiencies.

However, Odor’s power has never really been in question. He has three 30-homer seasons in the past five years and swatted 10 long balls in just 148 plate appearances last year. The trade-off for that pop has been a strikeout rate that has soared north of 31 percent in the past two seasons and an overall .215/.279/.418 batting line through 1915 plate appearances dating back to 2017.

Odor figures to join a Yankees bench that currently features catcher Kyle Higashioka, outfielder Mike Tauchman, outfielder Brett Gardner and infielder Tyler Wade. The only one of the bunch who has a minor league option remaining is Wade, and given that he’s also the only infielder of that group, it seems likely that he’ll be bumped to accommodate Odor’s acquisition. That would make Gio Urshela the primary backup to Gleyber Torres at shortstop, with Odor likely handling third base should Urshela be pressed into action at short for any reason.

Jose Leclerc To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

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Rangers closer Jose Leclerc will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the 2021 season, general manager Chris Young announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry).

Leclerc has battled elbow soreness since last week, so this news isn’t surprising, but it will rob him of an entire season and the Rangers of their best reliever. The 27-year-old threw just two innings last season as he dealt with a strain of his right teres muscle, and this latest injury will continue to throw a once-promising career off course.

Between 2016-19, Leclerc threw 187 innings of 3.16 ERA ball, and though he walked almost 15 percent of batters during that span, he helped offset that with a 33 percent strikeout rate and a fastball that averaged upward of 95 mph. The Rangers were so impressed with Leclerc’s work that they signed him to a four-year, $14.75MM extension before 2019. It looked like a worthwhile gamble at the time, but it hasn’t worked out as hoped for Texas because of Leclerc’s arm troubles. His deal still includes one more guaranteed season, in which he’s also sure to miss time as he recovers from this surgery, and two years with club options for $6MM or more or buyouts worth $750K or less apiece.

With Leclerc done for the season, it’s unclear who will open the season as the Rangers’ closer. Ian Kennedy and Matt Bush look like the most logical candidates, as they have game-ending experience and the Rangers selected their contracts over the weekend. Taylor Hearn and Josh Sborz are also among those who could be in the mix. Regardless, the loss of Leclerc is a significant one for the Rangers.

Rangers To Designate Rougned Odor For Assignment, Select Charlie Culberson

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The Rangers have informed infielder Rougned Odor that he will not make the team’s Opening Day roster, as NBC 5’s Pat Doney first reported (Twitter link). Odor will be designated for assignment, Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets. Texas still owes him $27MM over the next two seasons, and because he has five-plus years of MLB service, he can still collect that salary even if he clears waivers and is released. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News tweets that the Rangers will select the contract of veteran infielder Charlie Culberson, who has made the roster.

Odor’s DFA further emphasizes the Rangers’ youth movement and closes the book on one of the more regrettable financial commitments in the franchise’s history. Nearly four years ago to the day, Odor inked a six-year, $49.5MM contract extension buying out his arbitration seasons and a handful of free-agent years. At the time, he was coming off a two-year run that saw him bat .267/.305/.487 with 49 home runs — including a 33-homer campaign in 2016.

Questionable on-base skills gave some reason for concern, but Odor was a former Top 50 overall prospect who looked the part of a slugging second baseman. Few could’ve reasonably forecast such a stark decline in such rapid fashion, however. Odor struck out at just a 19.4 percent clip from 2015-16 with the Rangers, but his whiff rate jumped to 25 percent in 2017 and has now climbed as high as 30.9 percent from 2019-20. Odor maintained much of his power, but his suddenly sky-high strikeout rates made it difficult to keep his average north of .200. His OBP, meanwhile has routinely been south of .300.

In all, since signing the extension, Odor has turned in an awful .215/.279/.418 batting line and fanned in about 27 percent of his plate appearances. His defensive ratings have tumbled in recent seasons as well, further shining a spotlight on his struggles.

With Odor now out of the picture and Elvis Andrus traded to Oakland, it looks to be a new era for the Rangers infield. They’ll task Isiah Kiner-Falefa with manning shortstop on the regular, and Odor’s departure should pave the way for Nick Solak to get everyday at-bats at second base. While Solak’s glovework draws questionable reviews itself, he’s a well-regarded offensive prospect — even if he struggled during last year’s shortened schedule.

The Rangers will have a week to trade Odor, place him on outright waivers or release him. That timeline is something of a moot point, however, as no team is going to agree to acquire the remainder of the contract either via trade or waivers. It’s perhaps possible that the Rangers will find some kind of bad contract swap, but the likeliest outcome is that Odor will simply be released and free to seek opportunities with other clubs. Should he sign elsewhere, his new club would only be required to pay him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. That sum would be subtracted from the $27MM the Rangers still owe him.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/28/21

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The latest minor moves around the league…

Latest

  • The A’s announced a pair of roster moves, optioning Vimael Machin and Seth Brown to Triple-A. That means Rule 5 selection Ka’ai Tom is likely to make the roster as a reserve outfielder, notes Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Tom didn’t get a full spring because of an oblique injury, but he apparently showed enough for the A’s to keep him on the active roster. He’ll need to stay there for the entire season or else be returned to the Indians. Machin spent some of last season standing in for Matt Chapman at third before Jake Lamb arrived, but a relatively punchless .206/.296/.238 across 71 plate appearances likely returns the difficult-to-strikeout left-handed hitter to an emergency fill-in role. Brown, 28, contributed 0.7 fWAR in a highly-productive 26-game sample in 2019, but he logged only five plate appearances across seven games in 2020.

Earlier Updates

  • The Rangers released Nick Vincent yesterday, but today they announced that he will stay with the organization on a minor league contract. We’ll see this pattern with a number of players between now and opening day. The 34-year-old Vincent has seen action in every season going back to 2012 when he debuted with the Padres. He has appeared in 405 games over his nine-year career with exactly matching 3.38 ERA/FIP marks while suiting up for the Pads, Mariners, Giants, Phillies, and Marlins.
  • 16-year-old Cuban outfielder Luis Mario Piño has agreed to sign with the Cardinals for $767K, per ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (Twitter links). Pino had multiple offers both for this signing period and next, but he ultimately has decided to join the Cardinals’ 2021-22 class of international signees. The White Sox, A’s, and Red Sox were among the teams who were said to be interested in Pino.

Minor MLB Transactions: 3/27/21

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The latest minor moves around the league:

Most Recent

  • The Diamondbacks have re-signed catcher Bryan Holaday to a new minor league contract, the team announced.  The 33-year-old catcher was in camp as a non-roster invitee and was released last night. Holaday has played for the Tigers, Marlins and Orioles over a big league career that has spanned parts of nine years. He got a little bit of MLB action in Baltimore last year, picking up 33 plate appearances.

Earlier Today

  • The Phillies announced they’ve released reliever Michael Ynoa. The 29-year-old pitched in six games this spring as a non-roster invitee. Ynoa hasn’t pitched in the majors since a 2016-17 stint with the White Sox. Once a top prospect, the right-hander has signed with each of the Royals, A’s and Phillies since being cut loose by Chicago but hasn’t made it back to the highest level. Ynoa has a 4.42 ERA/5.12 SIERA over 59 MLB innings.
  • The Rangers have released right-hander Nick Vincent, per a team announcement. Texas has interest in bringing Vincent back to the organization on another minor-league deal, per Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning-News (Twitter link). The Rangers also re-signed catcher Drew Butera to a second minor-league deal in a procedural move. Both Vincent and Butera were Article XX(B) free agents- players with six years of service time who were in camp on minor league deals after finishing the 2020 season on big league rosters. As such, they’d have been entitled to respective $100K retention bonuses had Texas kept them on their original contracts without adding them to the major league roster.
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