Padres, Phillies, Brewers Double Up As 10 Rule 5 Draft Picks Stick

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A few years ago, the Rule 5 draft appeared to be an anachronism. Year after year, few players stuck, and those who did made little impact. The Rule 5 drafts from 2007 to 2013 averaged just four Rule 5 picks per year who stuck on major league rosters.

That’s no longer true.

Major league teams are once again finding plenty of room for Rule 5 picks. This spring, 10 of the 16 players selected in last December’s Rule 5 draft have made Opening Day rosters. To stick with their new clubs, those 10 will have to remain on the big league 25-man roster for the entire 2016 season. If all 10 do stay the course, it will be the second-largest Rule 5 class of the modern rules, which kicked in for the 2006 draft. That year, MLB granted an extra exemption year for all minor league players before they become eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

The 2014 draft class set the “modern day” record with 11 players who stuck with their new clubs in 2015, though Braves righthander Dan Winkler spent most of last year on the disabled list and still has to remain on the Braves’ 25-man roster for the first two months of 2016, something that the reliever seems likely to do.

Rule 5 Draft	Players Kept	Total Picked	PCT
2015	10	16	62.5%
2014	11	14	78.6%
2013	3	9	33.3%
2012	5	15	33.3%
2011	4	12	33.3%
2010	5	19	26.3%
2009	3	17	17.7%
2008	5	21	23.8%
2007	3	18	16.7%
2006	9	19	47.4%
Total	58	130	44.6%
*2015 results could change as 2016 season progresses

 

So what’s led to the change?

The argument can be made that the overall talent level in baseball is higher. That deeper pool means more players will be left unprotected on a team’s 40-man roster and, thus, be available for selection in the Rule 5 draft. Add that to the fact that it’s been 17 years since expansion, the longest stretch without adding teams since the Expansion Era began in 1961.

Additionally, the influx of players from Cuba in recent years—more than 100 in the past year—has increased the depth of talent in affiliated baseball.

Also, teams have gotten savvier with their Rule 5 picks. They less often pick the projectable young players to stash and develop themselves. Instead, most of the Rule 5 selections in recent years are players who can play some sort of role in their Rule 5 season.

This year’s class includes a pair of outfielders who are battling for significant playing time in Tyler Goeddel (Phillies) and Joey Rickard (Orioles). Jabari Blash’s big spring training foretells a potential significant role in the Padres’ outfield as well. The other players who have stuck fit the typical profile of a Rule 5 pick, i.e. relievers and utility-type infielders.

The Phillies (Goeddel and reliever Daniel Stumpf) and Padres (Blash and Luis Perdomo) each have two Rule 5 picks on their Opening Day rosters, and the Brewers do, too, in the form of second baseman Colin Walsh and reliever Zack Jones, though the latter is on the disabled list.

Just three teams in the decade have kept multiple Rule 5 picks for an entire season. The Braves kept relievers Winkler and Andrew McKirahan in 2015. The Astros kept reliever Rhiner Cruz and shortstop Marwin Gonzalez in 2012. The Reds kept outfielder Josh Hamilton and reliever Jared Burton in 2007. The last team we can find with three Rule 5 picks was the 2003 Tigers, a club that lost 119 times, thanks in part to apportioning 18 percent of their innings to Rule 5 pitchers Matt Roney (101), Wil Ledezma (84) and Chris Spurling (77).

Team	Pos.	Selecting Team	Result
Tyler Goeddel	of	Phillies	Made major league roster as backup outfielder
Jake Cave	of	Reds	Offered back to Yankees
Evan Rutckyj	lhp	Braves	Returned to Yankees
Luis Perdomo	rhp	Padres	Made major league roster as reliever
Colin Walsh	2b	Brewers	Made major league roster as backup infielder
Jabari Blash	of	Padres	Made major league roster as backup outfielder
Josh Martin	rhp	Padres	Designated for assignment—currently in DFA limbo
Joey Rickard	of	Orioles	Made major league roster as starting left fielder
Deolis Guerra	rhp	Angels	Elected free agency, re-signed on minor league deal
Joe Biangini	rhp	Blue Jays	Made major league roster as reliever
Matt Bowman	rhp	Cardinals	Made major league roster as reliever
Daniel Stumpf	lhp	Phillies	Made major league roster as reliever
Chris O’Grady	lhp	Reds	Returned to Angels
Zack Jones	rhp	Brewers	On major league DL with shoulder injury
Blake Smith	rhp	Padres	Returned to White Sox
Ji-Man Choi	1b	Angels	Made major league roster as backup first baseman