Joyce: The many non-successes of the Rule 5 draft
From Tom Joyce at The Hardball Times on December 6, 2019:
Every year at the Major League Baseball winter meetings, the Rule 5 Draft strives to help the competitive balance of baseball. But sometimes, the opposite happens.
In the draft, teams without a full 40-man roster are allowed to pick off players in other organizations who are not members of those team’s 40-man rosters. Generally, eligible players include those “who signed with their current club at age 18 or younger and have played professionally for at least five years,” as well as, “those who signed at 19 or older and have at least four years of professional experience,” according to the official MLB website.
If a team makes a pick in the draft, it must pay $100,000 for that player. The player selected must remain in the majors all season and on the active roster for at least 90 days (the rest can be on the disabled list). If the drafting team wants to take the player off its big league roster, he must be placed on outright waivers. If the player goes unclaimed, the team must offer him back to his previous team for $50,000. If the previous team does not want him, he can go to the minors.
Read the full article here: https://tht.fangraphs.com/the-many-non-successes-of-the-rule-5-draft/
Originally published: December 12, 2019. Last Updated: December 12, 2019.