One of the most senseless events in all of sports, the Rule 5 Draft, is coming up in a few days. Today was the deadline for adding minor league players who are eligible for the Rule 5 draft to 40 man rosters where they are protected. The rule for the Rule 5 Draft is that prospects drafted out of college with 4 years of service and HS draftees and international signees with 5 years of service time can be selected by other teams in a draft order. Selecting teams have to pay the team losing the player $25 K. The drafted player has to stay on the selecting team's 25 man roster all season or else be offered back for $50 K. Or maybe I have the $$$ backwards? At any rate, it is a ridiculous exercise that yields a star player for the selecting team about as often as Halley's Comet comes around, in case someone wants to bring up Johan Santana.
At any rate, the Giants DFA'd Juan Gutierrez and added RHP's Ray Black, Joan Gregorio, Derek Law and Cody Hall to the 40 man roster. Pitchers, especially relief pitchers, are probably the most vulnerable to the Rule 5 Draft process because the bullpen is the most likely place a young player might contribute right away even with unpolished stuff so these adds make sense if the Giants think they might be future contributors to the MLB club.
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The actual Rule V draft is, as you stated, over-rated, and rarely produces even 1 player of value league-wide.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't think the draft is the actual point of the exercise. The point of it is to get players "clocks" running as early as possible. The Union does not want teams stashing otherwise MLB-ready talent in the minors longer than is necessary.
It just keeps the line moving.
Though not quite star quality, I think Uggla was rule 5'd out of the Phillie system. (Side bar tie-in: Players contributing the least to World Series victory while receiving a ring.)
ReplyDeleteAlso fun to note Joe Paterson, rule 5'd off the Giants prior to 2011, stuck all year as serviceable lefty reliever for the D-Backs. Then, the other side of it: In Both 2012 & 2014, he had an ERA over 30.00
ReplyDeleteA few notable Rule V'ers...
ReplyDeleteRoberto Clemente
Bobby Bonilla
Jose Bautista
Jorge Bell
Darrell Evans
Josh Hamilton
Willie Hernandez
Jayson Werth
Dan Uggla was a rule 5 pick too. No summary about the players they saved?? It's not pointless at all, as the 3 relievers they put on the 40 man roster all could see time on the Giants by years end and possibly play a role in their 2016 pen. All 3 of those guys could've been drafted by a bad rebuilding team and put in the back of their pen for the year, keeping them as long as they don't do terrible. That;s what the Dbacks did with Patterson.
ReplyDeleteHe's much hated by Giants fans, and supposedly by opposing players as well, but Shane Victorino has been one of the more successful Rule 5 draftees in recent memory.
ReplyDeleteAll these names were drafted before the service time eligibility was lengthened by one year across the board. They'll be minor league FA's in another year anyway. For every success you can point to, there are 5 players whose development gets messed up with all the shuffling back and forth and being stashed on a bench for a full season.
ReplyDeleteBTW, wasn't Sandy Koufax a Rule 5 once upon a time?