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