Rule 5 Draft 2014/2015

Remember two weeks ago when a bunch of minor league players were called up to their major league clubs to protect them from eligibility in the Rule 5 Draft? As part of that process, many hundreds more players were left unprotected, 13 of which were selected in this morning's Rule 5 Draft. Again, even though the draft itself took place in the last days of 2014, I'm including 2015 in the title of my post because the roster moves in question here will affect the 2015 season. And unlike the 100+ players who were added to the 40-man roster in November, most of these 13 players should affect their 2015 teams since they have to stay on the 25-man roster all season or risk being returned to their former teams.

I won't try to make a lineup out of these guys since only five of them are position players, so instead let's focus on the ranked prospects as of last year. The only Rule 5 pick who made MLB.com's top 100 going into 2014 was former Astros outfielder Delino DeShields. Despite the fact that Houston's GM doubted the son of the former Major Leaguer with the same name would be selected, DeShields Jr. will find himself playing on the opposite side of the Lone Star State in 2015. This transaction - representing the first player that the Rangers have added to their big league roster this offseason - will give Texas its fifth 2014 top 100 prospect, setting them up nicely to contend towards the end of Yu Darvish, Shin-Soo Choo, and Prince Fielder's massive contracts.

DeShields is one of three players lost by Houston - the others being pitchers David Rollins and Jandel Gustave - but not all three players ended up on the teams that drafted them (technically described as a waiver claim by MLB.com). It's common practice for a team to pick up a player in the Rule 5 Draft, which occurs in reverse order based on 2014 standings, then trade him to another team lower in the order that wouldn't normally have access to him. This is how the A's got ahold of power hitting 1B/OF type Mark Canha, the highest fantasy scoring player selected in this year's proceedings. It's currently unclear whether Canha will form part of a 1B platoon with Ike Davis, play some left field along with Sam Fuld and Craig Gentry, of whether he'll be flipped in another patented Billy Beane blockbuster trade.

Aside from DeShields, none of the people in this group are household names, even in my baseball-obsessed household. I had heard some rumors surrounding former Atlanta's former #6 ranked prospect J.R. Graham and former Mets starter Logan Verrett (he was joined in Baltimore by Jason Garcia via a trade with Houston, making them the only team to come away with two Rule 5 players) from the above link in Delino Jr.'s paragraph. Also Sean Gilmartin is no stranger to offseason moves, having been traded for Ryan Doumit a year ago next week. The most impressive pitcher, fantasy points-wise, is Daniel Winkler who put up very impressive numbers in Colorado's minor league system, although he managed just 12 starts last year and hasn't risen past the AA level despite being 24 years of age.

Now that we've taken a look at the players involved in this year's Rule 5 Draft, let's look back at last year's for the sake of comparison. Looking at the evidence, I might have overstated the impact that some of this year's Rule 5 crop might have on 2015. Of the nine players selected last year, five never even reached the majors, one of whom (Brian Moran) was unceremoniously returned from the Angels to the Mariners after the season. Adrian Nieto, the only position player to see time in 2015, spent the season as backup catcher for the White Sox, showing that there's some hope for Oscar Hernandez who was acquired to help fill the Miguel Montero-sized void in Arizona. Tommy Kahnle had the best 2014 season of any Rule 5 pick and he was merely a serviceable reliever for the Rockies. But major league ready talent is hard to find, and clubs will get it any way they can.

One way that teams have been acquiring major league talent at a record pace is during the Winter Meetings going on now. As anyone who even remotely follows the Hot Stove League knows, the action is almost too feverish to keep up, so tune in this weekend for my weekly transactions update feature, which I'm very excited to continue given all the moves and signings going on. Until then, keep watching the transaction column!