How Does the Rule 5 Draft work?
The Rule 5 Draft is the process in Major League Baseball in which players not on the 40-man roster are picked by the MLB’s 28 teams, so they can be brought to the major leagues immediately, without risking losing a draft pick in the process.
Draft order and selection
It is now mandatory for teams to make at least 1 offer for every pick they receive.
A team cannot decline an offer if it becomes available (e.g. is traded or outright acquired).
A team must make a minimum offer of $250,000 plus any compensatory picks
A team cannot decline an offer that it received if it becomes available without offering $250K.
A team cannot decline an offer without receiving any compensation.
A team must make an offer to all of its selections.
A team cannot decline an offer without receiving any compensation.
Post-selection
And when the club option or designation is not exercised, players may be traded after they join the team, but only with the consent of the player. It also states that the player can only be traded to a team in the same conference. It goes on to mention that a player who has been designated may be released with the consent of the player but only if the player has accrued 60 days of service time.
A team can trade for a Rule 5 Draft player at any time. A player drafted in the first round and a team can’t trade for a player selected in the second round. A player selected in the second round can only be traded if he is not protected. In addition, the trading team must be out of the Rule 5 Draft on the date of the trade or the player can’t be traded.
After a team picks up their Rule 5 draft pick, they have a set window to trade or release the player. If a team fails to sign the player within that window, the player is returned to their original team at $50,000, a half of their original purchasing point.
Practical examples of Rule 5 selections
The 2020 Draft was a big one. The Pirates have the first pick of the draft. Pittsburgh selected RHP Jose Soriano from the Angels. The Dodgers have the next pick. They picked up relief pitcher Brett de Geus from the Dodgers. The Brewers, Cardinals, Braves, and Yankees all passed on their picks. The only two teams that weren’t eligible for the draft were the Blue Jays and the Padres.
This was another Draft in which the Giants selected pitchers, but it was a bit different for them. They selected Nunez, who is a left-handed pitcher. He has shown a good fastball at 99-101 mph, and he has a curveball, slider, and changeup as his primary pitches. His velocity was one of the higher marks in his 2017-18 seasons. He has been a big part of the Mets’ system, and has pitched in the lower levels of the Minor League system. He has never pitched at the Double-A level.
What is the Eligibility for players to get into the Rule 5 Draft?
The requirements for the Rule 5 Draft is that players will be professional baseball players. And the requirements are that players be at least 20 years old or have at least three years pro experience with either three or more years of college or a professional organization.
To qualify as a draftee, players must meet a few criteria. First, draftees must be professional baseball players who have been in college for four years or have played four years of professional ball. Second, draftees cannot be on their team’s 40-man roster and the team can only have a maximum of 40 players on it at any given time.
By making it mandatory to expose all of their players for the entire season to other teams, the draft ensures an equal playing field.
Rule 6: The draft order
The draft order is determined based on the previous league drafts. The most recent draft order remains unchanged until the completion of the first regular season. As a result, the draft order is continually shuffled and updated each year by baseball officials.
When did the Rule 5 Draft start?
The first two World Series were split by two teams from the same city, and the American League won. But the two leagues were also fighting for players in their development leagues, and the American League eventually took a majority of players from the National League.
In the early days of MLB, the Winter Meetings were not held in January like they are now. Instead, teams would go to places like St. Petersburg in Florida, or New York, or wherever they felt like going. It would sometimes last a full week. Teams would make their picks in the order in which they signed their players. Since the early days of the rule, teams have spent a lot of time and resources on scouting the potential players that are included in the draft, which makes it easier to find players that fit the bill.
The early farm system made it possible for the Phillies to draft a pitcher who would become a superstar, the first of his kind, named Robin Roberts. During his time with the organization, he worked out with the Phillies and played in the minor leagues while he was a student at Temple University and he helped the organization win the first of their seven World Series titles.
When the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) fought for the abolishment of the bonus system in the early 1980s, the MLBPA received opposition from the New York Mets, who had just signed free agent Gary Carter to a lucrative contract. Carter was the first player to receive a bonus of $1 million above the signing threshold set by the rules. The rules were upheld by the courts in an antitrust case later that year.
Modern View of the Rule 5 Draft
The modern Rule 5 Draft is a mechanism by which teams can acquire and protect major league-ready players in exchange for international bonus money. The Draft is set up to protect teams from a potential overpay by a team that selects in the later rounds of the draft, or a team that trades for a player in the lower half of the draft.
The Rule 5 Draft is an excellent tool for getting a competitive minor-league team started and an equally helpful tool for upgrading a major-league team without having to sacrifice an established part of the roster that they’ve invested years of work into.
Conclusion on the Rule 5 Draft
In previous years, some teams have had some great success with Rule 5 picks. The Cubs picked up Gonzalez, who became a two-time All-Star and was traded to the Astros. But other teams have had trouble with Rule 5 selections. The Dodgers picked up Shane Victorino, a two-time All-Star outfielder, but he hasn’t been able to stay with them.