Rule 5 draft
The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor league affiliate teams when other organizations would be willing to have them play in the major leagues.[1] The Rule 5 draft is named for its place in The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book. The Rule 4 draft—more widely known as the "first-year player draft", "amateur draft", or simply the "MLB draft"—is a distinctly different process by which teams select high school and college players, and takes place annually in July.
The Rule 5 draft has happened every year since 1920. The
History
MLB player transactions are governed by The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book,[3][a] within which, Rule 5 governs the "Annual Selection of Players".[3]: 62–66
Prior to its current incarnation, from 1959 until the creation of the Rule 4 draft in 1965, top first-year prospects of teams were exposed to the Rule 5 draft. This was in some ways an outgrowth of the Bonus rule that existed from 1946 to 1950 and from 1953 to 1957.[4]
Description
The selection order of the teams is based on each team's win–loss record from the prior regular season, as in the amateur draft, each round starting with the team with the worst record and proceeding in order to the team with the best record. Teams may choose not to select any player with their pick, passing to the next team in the order. Any player selected under Rule 5 is immediately added to his new team's
If chosen in the Rule 5 draft, a player must be kept on the selecting team's major league
To prevent the abuse of the Rule 5 draft, the rule also states that the draftee must actually be active for at least 90 days. This keeps teams from drafting players, then placing them on the injured list for the majority of the season. For example, if a Rule 5 draftee was only active for 67 days in his first season with his new club, he must be active for an additional 23 days in his second season to satisfy the Rule 5 requirements.
Any player chosen in the Rule 5 draft may be traded to any team while under the Rule 5 restrictions, but the restrictions transfer to the new team. If the new team does not want to keep the player on its active roster for the season, he must be offered back to the team of which he was a member when chosen in the draft.
Selection eligibility
Players are eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft if they are not on their major league organization's 40-man roster and:
- were 18 or younger on the June 5 preceding their signing and this is the fifth Rule 5 draft upcoming; or
- were 19 or older on the June 5 preceding their signing and this is the fourth Rule 5 draft upcoming.
These exemption periods (one year longer than those in effect previously) went into effect as part of a new
There can be exceptions to these rules, however. Players may also be eligible to be selected due to having a previous contract voided and then re-signing with their original signing team within a year. Notable players selected due to this rule include Wei-Chung Wang and Elvis Luciano.[5]
Example
The Rule 5 draft has opened opportunities for teams to take other teams' top prospects who may not be ready for the major leagues. A prominent example is
Cost
To prevent excessive turnover in the minor league levels, each draftee costs $100,000. If the draftee does not stay on the selecting team's active major league roster all season, the player must be offered back to his original team at half-price ($50,000). Prior to the CBA in effect during 2017–2021, each draftee cost $50,000 and therefore $25,000 to be reacquired by his original team.[8]
Minor-league phase
Under the 2017–2021 CBA, organizations could also draft players from
Notable Rule 5 draftees
Hall of Famers
- Christy Mathewson—selected by the Cincinnati Reds from the Norfolk Phenoms in the 1900 Rule 5 draft.[11]
- Hack Wilson—selected by the Chicago Cubs from the Toledo Mud Hens in the 1925 Rule 5 draft.[12]
- Roberto Clemente—selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates from the Brooklyn Dodgers as the first pick of the Rule 5 draft of November 22, 1954[13][14]
All-Stars
- José Bautista
- George Bell
- Paul Blair†
- Bobby Bonilla
- Everth Cabrera
- Nestor Cortes Jr.
- Alfredo Simón
- Jody Davis
- R. A. Dickey
- Darrell Evans
- Ferris Fain
- Jason Grilli
- Kelly Gruber
- Josh Hamilton
- Willie Hernández
- Odubel Herrera
- Dave Hollins
- John Hudek†
- Sal Maglie
- Dave May
- Evan Meek
- Mike Morgan
- Omar Narvaez
- Jeff Nelson
- Darren O'Day
- Alexi Ogando†
- Scott Podsednik†
- Ryan Pressly
- Bip Roberts
- Jordan Romano†
- Johan Santana
- Joakim Soria
- Manny Trillo†
- Derrick Turnbow
- Dan Uggla
- Fernando Viña
- Shane Victorino
† player was selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft
Drafted, but returned, or traded before start of season
Drafted, then traded to the drafting team, nullifying the draft
- R. A. Dickey
- Willy Taveras
- Mitch Williams
- Evan Meek
- Scott Diamond
Notes
- ^ This document governs MLB's business rules, not playing rules.
References
- ^ a b MLB Draft Rules – DraftSite.com.
- ^ Glaser, Kyle (December 2, 2021). "Major League Rule 5 Draft Postponed, Minor League Phase Will Still Take Place". Baseball America. Retrieved December 2, 2021.
- ^ a b The Official Professional Baseball Rules Book (PDF). New York City: Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2020 – via mlbpa.org.
- ^ Baseball America history of the draft
- ^ MLB Rule 5 Draft
- ^ Costello, Brian (February 3, 2008). "Many Twists & Turns In Johan's Journey". New York Post. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
- ^ "Johan Santana Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.
- ^ "Rule 5 Draft | Glossary | MLB.com". MLB.com.
- ^ MLB Rule 5 Draft FAQ – MLB.com.
- ^ Mayo, Jonathan (December 7, 2022). "2022 Rule 5 Draft results: Pick by pick". MLB.com. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
- Baseball Reference.
- MLB.
- ^ "Roberto Clemente". Retrosheet. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
- ^ "13 Selected by 9 Clubs for $122,000". The Baltimore Sun. November 23, 1954. p. 27. Retrieved April 19, 2021 – via newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Schwarz, Alan (2002). "At last, a quick explanation of the Rule 5 draft". Baseball America. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015 – via Wayback Machine.