The Rule 5 draft was held Thursday, and several players swapped organizations because of it. Over the next few slides, we’ll take a look at each pick’s chances of sticking on his new team’s big league roster.
Unlike the regular first-year player draft, the Rule 5 draft involves professionals. Players that first signed at age 18 and that haven’t been added to a 40-man roster through five seasons, or players that signed at 19 years or older and that haven’t been added to a 40-man roster through four seasons are eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process.
If an organization decides to take a player in the major league phase of the draft, it must pay $50,000. If that player doesn’t stay on the 25-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $25,000. Teams are not obligated to make a selection and many didn’t.
In all, 16 players were selected in this year’s draft. A few teams—the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres—made more than one selection. After the dust settled and a few picks were traded, San Diego ended up with four of the 16 players taken.
Now that the picks are in, how likely is it that these players will make the big league roster? What’s the fate of the likes of Tyler Goeddel, Jabari Blash, Jake Cave and the rest of the Rule 5 draftees?
In all of those cases, it’ll depend on the current roster structure of the team that drafted them. Relief pitchers are more likely to stick, while position players will have a tougher time carving out playing time.
The Rule 5 draft is a low-risk, high-reward event. We don’t yet know what the players taken in this year’s draft will develop into, but we can at least dive into their chances of reaching the big leagues with their new clubs.