Preview of Rule 5 draft today

SAN DIEGO – For the first time in three years, since the last time the Winter Meetings were held in San Diego, the Rule 5 draft will be held personally. This is after it was forced to be a remote event due to the pandemic in 2020 and was canceled in 2021 due to the lockdown.

In years past, Base 5 was the final term of the winter meeting on Thursday mornings, gathering all of baseball before heading to the airport. This year may have the same vibe, though, as the action has been moved to Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM EST/2 PT (live audio on MLB.com) for these slightly truncated meetings.

But what hasn’t changed at all is that Rule 5 provides a low risk opportunity For all 30 teams, look for potential big talent in the league. Teams review the extensive roster of qualifiers and review scouting reports to help decide if they want to make any draft picks.

Unlike the amateur draft (Rule 4), whose order is now determined in part by a lottery, at least in the first round, the order of the Rule 5 draft continues to be dictated in reverse order to last season’s order. So the Nationals, who had the worst record in baseball in 2022, get the first pick, followed by the A’s. The Buccaneers and Reds finished with identical numbers last season, so the Pirates have a potential third-place finish in the draft due to finishing with a worse record in 2021.

draft command
Here are the full Rule 5 draft standings for this year. A team must have a spot on its roster to select, so each team’s status of 40 players is included in parentheses.

Players who are first signed at age 18 or younger must be added to 40-player rosters within five seasons or become eligible for registration by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed by age 19 or older must be protected within four seasons. Clubs pay $100,000 to select a player in the major league stage of the Rule 5 draft. If that player does not remain on the active major league roster for the full season, he must be returned to his former team for $50,000. For this year, that means a high school or international draft pick signed in 2018 must be protected. A college player selected in the 2019 draft was in the same position.

1 – Citizens 55-107 (38)
2. A’s, 60-102 (38)
3 – Buccaneers, 62-100 (38)
4. Reds, 62-100 (39)
5. Royals, 65-97 (40)
6 – Tigers 66-96 (38)
7 – Rangers, 68-94 (40)
8. Rockies, 68-94 (38)
9. Marlins, 69-93 (39)
10. Angels 73-89 (40)
11. D-emergence, 74-88 (40)
12- CAPS, 74-88 (36)
13. Twins, 78-84 (39)
14. Red Sox, 78-84 (39)
15. White Sox, 81-81 (36)
16. Giants, 81-81 (38)
17. Orioles, 83-79 (38)
18. Brewers, 86-76 (38)
19. Rice, 86-76 (40).
20. Phillies, 87-75 (38)
21 – Padres, 89-73 (34)
22. Navy, 90-72 (37).
23- Guardians, 92-70 (39).
24- Blue Jays, 92-70 (39)
25. Cardinals, 93-69 (38).
26 – Yankees, 99 – 63 (39)
27. Mets, 101-61 (33)
27. Braves, 101-61 (38).
29- Astros, 106-56 (37).
30. Dodgers, 111-51 (37).

There is also the Minor League stage of the Rule 5 draft, where costs go from $12,000 to $24,000 for a Triple-A pick (anyone not protected on a major league or Triple-A list is eligible). Double-A stage eliminated. The players selected in this part of the Rule 5 draft are not subject to any existing restrictions with their new organization.

recent successes
The last major league phase of the Rule 5 draft took place in 2020, with 18 picks selected. Seven of them have hit WWII positives over the past two years, led by Red Sox outfielder Garrett Whitlock (4.7) and Tigers outfielder Aqil Badu (2.5). Both are among Top 10 picks for base 5 from the last decade.

Best shots ever
Changes in how the Rule 5 draft works make it a bit difficult to compare across the ages. Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente is clearly the best ever in the draft, but it was a different mechanism back then. Looking back at a more recent era, since 1990, here’s how the top five ranks of Base 5 players who stopped working came about, ranked by career war.

1. Johan Santana LHP (51.7)
2 – Shane Victorino (31.2)
3 – Josh Hamilton (28.1)
4. Joachim Soria, RHP (18.6)
5 – Dan Ugla, 2b (17.5)

Soria is the player on this list who played most recently, pitching for D linebacker and the Blue Jays in 2021. Among the active players selected at Base 5, Ender Inciarte beat Uggla with a 17.9 WAR, but he’s already returned to his original team, linebacker. D, after the Phillies took him in 2012 and made his major league debut with Arizona in 2014. Odúbel Herrera is the closest the active players have stuck, with a 13.4 WAR.

Highest prospects available
There are a number of Top 30 qualified prospects For this year’s Rule 5 draft, though, not a lot of highly-rated prospects have changed. it was there Some interesting names Talking a bit in the lobby, like Phillies lefty Eric Miller, Braves right Victor Vodnik and Rays southpaw Jose Lopez.