2009 Rule 5 Draft Eligible Farmstros
by AstroAndy on Sep 28, 2009 12:09 PM CDT
17 comments
Many of our minds turned to the off-season weeks ago. One of the more exciting parts of the off-season is the Rule 5 draft, which is used to prevent good players from languishing on the minor league squads of teams with heavily stocked farm systems. MLBTradeRumors gives a good, understandable description of how the Rule 5 draft works, but here's a quick refresher as to what players are eligible to be selected:
- Players who signed at the age of 18 or under are eligible after 5 years.
- Players who signed at the age of 19 or older are eligible after 4 years.
- You can be protected from the Rule 5 draft if you are on the major league team's 40-man roster.
A recent AP News article suggested that the Astros might have a tough decision this offseason as to whether or not Koby Clemens should be placed on the Astros 40-man roster to protect him from getting Rule 5-ed to another team. This made me curious, so I went through the rosters and picked out the players who would be Rule 5 eligible.
After the jump, you'll find the full list. I've provided links to the Baseball-Reference pages of the 6 players who will probably receive the most consideration for being protected on the 40-man this offseason. For those of you who don't want to click through, those players are Fernando Abad, Drew Locke, Sergio Perez, Jimmy VanOstrand, Koby Clemens, and Henry Villar.
Quick Disclaimer: This is my first time figuring out this sort of stuff, so you may want to take the list as a work-in-progress until someone who knows better (i.e. farmstros) has had a chance to look it over.
Already On The 40-Man
These guys would be protected if they held the draft today. To be removed from the 40-man, I believe that they'd have to be Designated For Assignment, which would leave them open to waivers from other teams.
- Yorman Bazardo
- Brian Bogusevic
- German Duran
- Brad James
- Chris Johnson
- Tommy Manzella
- Bud Norris
- Yordany Ramirez
- Polin Trinidad
- Jose Vallejo
AAA - Round Rock
AA - Corpus Christi
- Fernando Abad
- Brandon Barnes
- Evan Englebrook
- Jhon Florentino
- Drew Locke
- Jose Lopez
- Nick Moresi
- Mark Ori
- Sergio Perez
- Wladimir Sutil
- Jimmy Van Ostrand
A+ - Lancaster
- Leandro Cespedes
- Koby Clemens
- Tip Fairchild
- Bryan Hallberg
- Casey Hudspeth
- Ronald Ramirez
- Ebert Rosario
- Chris Salamida
A - Lexington
- Arcenio Leon
- Reinaldo Pestana
- Henry Villar
A - Tricity
- Pedro Gonzalez
- Antonio Noguera
- Wander Ortiz
- Renzo Tello
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good list, Astros Andy
One thing about a lot of the players on the list is that they have been eligible in the past, so the likelihood is they aren’t in too much danger of going anywhere. My understanding is that Matt Nevarez, who they got for Pudge is Rule 5 eligible too. To me, of the guys who are first time eligible, Norris and Chris Johnson are the big targets, and of course, they are already protected.
I doubt Clemens will need to be protected. I can’t see somebody being willing to keep him up for a whole season. I’m more interested to see what happens with Locke.
Looking at the guys on the 40-man roster, I won’t be surprised if James (two straight tough years at AA) and Yordany Ramirez (2 less than impressive years at AAA) get moved off to make room for Locke and maybe one more player.
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by farm_stros on Sep 28, 2009 10:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I suspect Drew Locke will be on the 25-man
It’s kind of a shame to make him ride the bench, but I think there’s a good chance he will be our backup outfielder next season, with us in penny pinching mode, him totally jogjammed in LF, and as old as he is.
That means we won’t have to make somebody else vulnerable for him (he’ll take Michaels’ spot on the roster). It also might torpedo his career as a starting position player unless we somehow trade Carlos Lee or he gets injured.
I think they should protect Clemens. Don’t underestimate the draw of the numbers he put up. What’s the deal with German Duran (age 25, 6.69 ERA)? Do we consider him worth protecting at this point?
by OremLK on Sep 28, 2009 10:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Erm, numbers mix-up.
Got the age right though. Duran doesn’t seem to have done anything for us. Is he hurt?
by OremLK on Sep 28, 2009 10:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
We claimed Duran off of waivers from the Rangers. They put him on waivers because he had an appendectomy in the middle of the season and they needed room for Willy Eyre. They were trying to sneak him through, I think. I believe Duran is still recovering from his appendectomy.
by AstroAndy on Sep 28, 2009 10:54 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
While I'd like to see Locke playing for the Stros
the likely bad that come out of it is much greater than the good.
GOOD: 1. He’s close to being ready and he’ll get exposure to the majors.
2. We’ll save money by not having to get a FA backup OF-er.
3. He provides quite a few tools off the bench.
4. Not necessarily good but he’s getting older and needs to be called up sooner rather than later.
BAD: 1. He’ll just sit on the bench and his skills will erode and the last thing we want is another Jason Lane or Chris Burke. Their potential was there but partly crumbled due to sitting for extended periods of time.
2. Normally younger inexperienced players don’t make good pinch hitters.
3. 3 of our 4 best position players are OF-ers so he won’t even be able to share time.
4. WE DON’T NEED ANOTHER JASON LANE!
I know we’re rebuilding the farm but we have such a log jam at OF. I would look into possibly trading Locke IF YOU CAN GET SOMETHING DECENT. Even if it’s just a one for one swap to get a minor league infielder with a similar skill set and potential. I don’t want to see Locke go but it might be what’s best for him and the club. What would be best is for him to play most of next year in AAA, see how he does and if he continues then bring him up. If he performs in the small role he’s given then trade him because that’s likely as high as his stock will be if wearing an Astros uniform (barring any injuries). If you keep him then just make sure the guy plays winter ball and gets as many ABs as possible to stay sharp.
by Astrosws20 on Sep 29, 2009 6:26 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I was unsure about whether Nevarez would be eligible. He was 18 when he signed in 2005, so I know he would normally be Rule 5 eligible after this season. However, it looks like he missed the entire 2007 season due to injury, and I wasn’t sure whether the 5 years was just 5 years from signing or whether it was 5 years of service time. I went through the CBA and I still don’t know.
Re: Yordany Ramirez, I know when they first signed him, it was part of the contract that he would have a spot on the 40-man. I don’t know if that’s still in effect.
As for Drew Locke, I wouldn’t be surprised if he were part of a Drew Sutton-ish trade this offseason. My guess is that they’ll put him on the 40-man and see how well he performs at AAA.
by AstroAndy on Sep 28, 2009 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Who wants to take a rule 5 from the Stros system?
If the Stros fail to protect all the good prospects in the system, I will jump on the Fire Ed Wade bandwagon.
I don’t think we’ll have to worry about any decent prospects getting plucked from the system.
by timmy_ on Sep 29, 2009 8:11 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
As I’ve argued before, I think Clemens would be very vulnerable as a Rule 5 draftee. Having looked at the lists of Rule 5 eligibles in the past, it is so rare to see a guy with those offensive stats available, that he will jump to the forefront of consideration. And add to that the fact that somebody who can play catcher can be easily hidden on a 25 man roster as a third string catcher/pinch hitter. Also, Koby Clemens’ name will also add to the interest, since teams aren’t totally divorced from PR considerations.
I think Drew Locke should be protected. I would think that there is a fair amount of risk he could be drafted, and I would hate to see the Astros give him up. I like Van Ostrand, but I think he was exposed to the Rule 5 last year without selection. I would guess Yordany Ramirez could be exposed to the Rule 5; not that he doesn’t have potential, but how long are you going to wait for him to show enough offensive potential to be a MLer? I think the promise of keeping Ramirez on the 40 man is only as long as his contract (which is over at the end of the 09 season, corrrect?). I would think that Santangelo and Orie could be exposed to the Rule 5.
by clack on Sep 29, 2009 8:48 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I should also mention that the 40 man roster may well have more openings when these decisions have to be made. Players on the 25 man roster who don’t have contracts for 2010 will not be on the 40 man anymore. If the Astros feel confident that Manzella and/or Chris Johnson will make the 25 man roster out of spring training, some of these new spaces can be used. In theory, a number of spaces which come open due to expiring contracts could be used to protect players from the draft. However, as free agents for the 25 man roster are signed, some of the players on the 40 man would have to be waived. During the Wade era, that is how the Astros have picked up a number of players (e.g., Fulchino) off waivers prior to spring training.
by clack on Sep 29, 2009 9:02 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I wonder if the Astros also might take a chance on exposing someone like Maysonet to the Rule 5? We have gotten an inkling that the Astros’ organization isn’t enthralled with Maysonet’s potential. If the Astros like Vallejo or German better than him, maybe Maysonet doesn’t get protected, with the thinking that one of those ex-Rangers’ infielders can take his place.
It will be interesting to see what happens.
by clack on Sep 29, 2009 9:22 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Can anyone explain why Astros are down on Maysonet?
Astros fan for life
by Joe in Birmingham on Sep 29, 2009 10:32 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
To be fair, his minor league career was nothing special
2008 (AAA): .273/.341/.379
2009 (AAA): .235/.330/.310
However, one would think his performance at the big league level would at least earn him a chance…
by OremLK on Sep 29, 2009 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
It seemed like Cooper was down on Maysonet, based on the playing time he gave him. Clark seems to be using him a little more. DQ said earlier in the season that he had heard the rumor around the Express press box that the Astros’ front office didn’t think much of Maysonet.. Maysonet is at an age (27) where he can’t be expected to get a whole lot better; and that’s one reason I wondered if they might prefer younger players with a high ceiling, like the ex-Rangers’ pair. However, I agree that Maysonet should be given credit for playing and hitting competently at the ML level.
by clack on Sep 29, 2009 12:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
He’ll make a nice utility player, someone who could fill the void of a Geoff Blum.
If they’re looking for a cheaper option Maysonet is the way to go, but the front office seems to be a big Blum fan, and with Keppinger already under control there is no real need for Maysonet.
by timmy_ on Sep 29, 2009 2:20 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Minor league sections of the rule 5 draft
If a player isn’t on the AAA roster, he can be selected in the AAA section and if he is not on the AA he can be selected in the AA section.
Victor Garate just made his MLB debut (not a great one) with the Nats. He was selected in the rule 5 minor section by the Dodgers a few years ago.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see Clemens put on the AA roster to protect him from the AA draft.
by G-StrosFan on Oct 2, 2009 1:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Drew Locke, who was in A ball, was drafted by the Astros in the minor league section of the Rule 5 draft. Frankly, I’m not sure of the eligibility rules on the AA and AAA Rule 5 draft. However, in any event, we know that the Astros intention is for Clemens to play in AA next year.
by clack on Oct 2, 2009 4:45 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
St. Louis
|
91 | 71 | .561 | 0 | Lost 6 |
|
Chicago
|
83 | 78 | .515 | 7.5 | Lost 1 |
|
Milwaukee
|
80 | 82 | .493 | 11 | Won 3 |
|
Cincinnati
|
78 | 84 | .481 | 13 | Won 2 |
|
Houston
|
74 | 88 | .456 | 17 | Lost 3 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
62 | 99 | .385 | 28.5 | Lost 2 |
(updated 2.9.2010 at 5:43 AM CST)
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