On Dec. 7, baseball’s annual Winter Meetings will conclude with the Rule 5 draft. The draft returns after a one-year, lockout-induced hiatus. It’s an event that gets talked about quite a bit among baseball circles every winter, but is often not well understood. So, what is the Rule 5 draft? Why does it exist? And what impact has it had on the history of baseball? Let’s dive in.
What is the MLB Rule 5 draft?
The Rule 5 draft has existed in a variety of forms since the 1890s, but in all of its iterations, the intention behind the draft has been to ensure that organizations don’t horde MLB-ready talent in the minor leagues as non-roster players indefinitely. There are two portions of the Rule 5 draft — a major-league portion and a minor-league portion. Players selected in the major-league portion must remain on their new team’s active major-league roster for one season or be offered back to their original organization for a fee. Players selected in the minor-league portion join their new organizations with no roster restrictions.
A lot goes into deciding which players to protect and which ones to leave eligible. Teams have to weigh the risk of losing a prospect who they might not feel is ready to help them at the major-league level with the desire to keep 40-man roster spots available for players they need for the upcoming season. Hundreds of players are eligible each year, but most will not be selected and will remain in their current organizations as non-roster players. In the 2020 Rule 5 draft, only 16 players were selected in the major-league portion.
(Note: There was a minor-league Rule 5 draft last December. Fifty-one players were selected in that draft.)
Who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft?
Players are eligible for the first time if they are 1) not on their team’s 40-man roster and 2) experiencing their fourth Rule 5 draft if they were either 19 or older the year they signed their first professional contract, or experiencing their fifth Rule 5 draft if they were 18 or younger the year they signed their first professional contract. (CliffsNotes version: players who were 19 or older and signed in 2019 or earlier, or players who were 18 or younger and signed in 2018 or earlier, are eligible in this year’s draft.)
All non-roster players with the aforementioned eligibility are available in the major-league portion of the draft. Those eligible players not stashed on a team’s offseason Triple-A roster are eligible for the minor-league portion.
What is the deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 draft?
Teams must add prospects who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man rosters by Nov. 15 to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft pool.
When is the Rule 5 draft?
The Rule 5 draft will take place in San Diego at the Winter Meetings on Wednesday, Dec. 7. It is the final event of the Winter Meetings. Every team that has open spots on their 40-man roster will have the opportunity to select a player, although once they pass on making a selection (or have a full 40-man roster), they can no longer make selections. The draft continues until all teams have elected to pass on making selections or have full 40-man rosters. Draft order is the same as the upcoming Rule 4 amateur draft.
Is there a fee for selecting a player in the Rule 5 draft?
Yes, and like everything else, the cost is rising.
Before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement came into effect in February, teams that selected a player in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft would have to pay $50,000 to the team they were selecting the player from. If the new team decided not to keep the Rule 5 selection on their active roster, they would have to first put the player on waivers and, if the player cleared waivers, offer the player back to his old team for $25,000. Under the new CBA, the selection fee is now $100,000 and the player would be offered back for $50,000.
Can Rule 5 picks be traded?
Yes, and two of the most famous Rule 5 selections were traded by the team that selected them — Johan Santana and Josh Hamilton. Santana was selected out of the Astros’ system by the Marlins in 1999, but immediately traded to the Twins. Hamilton was selected by the Cubs in the 2006 draft out of the Rays’ chain, but was immediately traded to the Rangers. Teams who acquire a Rule 5 selection via a trade are bound by the same roster restrictions as if they made the selection themselves.
Can teams stash Rule 5 picks on the injured list?
Sort of. Teams sometimes target players coming off of serious surgeries in the Rule 5 draft because they can keep those players on their major-league 60-day injured list. However, unless the player spends at least 90 days on the active roster during his Rule 5 season, he will be bound by the same roster restrictions the following year.
Are good players ever found in the Rule 5 draft?
Yes! It isn’t often that teams find stars in the Rule 5 draft (the most common target for a Rule 5 selection is a hard-throwing reliever or a utility player with good defensive skills), but it has happened. The aforementioned Santana and Hamilton are two examples.
George Bell joined the Blue Jays in 1980 through the Rule 5 draft. Shane Victorino was a Rule 5 selection two years in a row. He failed to stick with the Padres in 2003, but found success with the Phillies in 2004, and wound up spending eight seasons in Philadelphia. Joakim Soria kicked off a 14-year major-league career as a Rule 5 pick of the Royals in the 2006 draft. Dan Uggla (2005) and Graeme Lloyd (1992) are two others who launched long major-league careers as Rule 5 picks.
The most famous Rule 5 selection is Roberto Clemente, who was selected out of the Dodgers’ organization by the Pirates in 1954. Earlier than that, the Cubs got Hack Wilson from the New York Giants in the Rule 5 draft of that era.
More recently, Marwin González (2011), Héctor Rondón (2012), Mark Canha (2014), Odúbel Herrera (2014), Brad Keller (2017), Akil Baddoo (2020), Garrett Whitlock (2020) and Trevor Stephan (2020) have made a significant impact with the teams that acquired them via the Rule 5 draft.
The minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft has also netted a few gems, including Tyler Gilbert, a left-hander selected by the Diamondbacks in 2020. Gilbert made his major-league debut in 2021 and threw a no-hitter in his first major-league start. The Astros carried Seth Martinez, a minor-league Rule 5 pick in 2020, on their playoff roster for every round except the World Series this fall. He had a 2.09 ERA in 38 2/3 regular-season innings for Houston in 2022. The A’s selected Zach Jackson in the same minor-league Rule 5 draft. He made his major-league debut in 2022 and had a 2.78 FIP and 67 strikeouts in 48 innings. Russell Wilson was once a minor-league Rule 5 selection, going from the Rockies to the Rangers.
(File photo of the 2013 Rule 5 draft: Phelan M. Ebenhack / Associated Press)
.