The Winter Meetings have now come and gone, and unlike the Craps and Blackjack tables which saw higher than normal traffic, the free agents and trade pieces were left out of the action like a would-be card counter tossed from the casino floor. There was some action, yes, and that action has been nicely detailed by our own Greg Jewett, but the final business of the Winter Meetings wasn’t a trade or big signing, it was the annual Rule 5 Draft that happens on the last day of the meetings every year.
For those that may not know, the Rule 5 Draft is baseball’s way of making sure that a few teams aren’t holding onto too many prospects at one time by allowing other teams to draft from their ranks once each year. Anyone that isn’t already on a 40-man roster is eligible to be drafted and any team that still has opening on their 40-man rosters can make selections. The trick is that anyone that is selected has to remain on the new team’s 25-man roster for the whole year (unless they land on the DL) or they are returned to the original team, if that team wants them back. So if a team is selecting guys, they better be sure that they are going to fill that hole on their roster at least for a good chunk of the season, or they risk losing the $100,000 it costs to select the player in the first place.
Typically there are about a dozen or so picks made, at that was the case this year, done in reverse order of standings from last year.
Richie Martin (SS) – Orioles from Athletics
Martin was the 12th-ranked prospect in the burgeoning A’s system and is coming off his best season in pro ball in 2017. Martin was the 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft by Oakland and since then he has had two knee surgeries that produced uneven results at the plate for the now 23-year-old infielder. He was primarily drafted as a defensive wiz but his bat has been making improvements and in 2017 showed big strides playing most of the year at Double-A with a .300/.368/.439 line with a .357 BABIP and .361 wOBA while knocking six dingers, 68 runs, 42 RBI, and 25 steals as well as 29 doubles and eight triples. The 55-grade speed he possesses gives him the ability to be an efficient base stealer even in the majors and the good bat-to-ball skills he shows, while striking out at a 16.9% clip mean that he should profile as a pretty standard on-base/extra base hit/base stealing type middle infielder. Martin will have to stay healthy as the most games he’s played in one season was last year’s 118 and work on lowering his 57.8% GB%, but he’s got the offensive and defensive skills to be an average infielder in Baltimore given they need the help in that area.
Riley Ferrell (RHP) – Marlins from Astros
Like Martin, Ferrell was a draftee in the 2015 Amateur Draft though this time he went in the third round to Houston. The right-hander came out of TCU, Texas Christian, where he posted a career 1.71 ERA and a school-record 32 saves in his three years on the mound. In the pros however, it’s been a bit of a tougher road for the now 25-year-old reliever. Ferrell operates mainly with a two-pitch mix that features two above-average offerings in a fastball that sits 93-98 most of the time with room for a bit more on occasion and has late life in the zone and a 60-grade mid-80s slider that has solid two-plane break and when harnessed correctly can be nearly unhittable. He’s reached Triple-A Fresno with Houston already having pitched there for about half the year in 2018 but his numbers weren’t spectacular there. In the 28 innings thrown at Triple-A, Ferrell had a 6.75 ERA (4.89 FIP and 4.34 xFIP), 1.79 WHIP, a 2-1 record with two saves, and a 10.93 K/9 rate. Over his pro career however his numbers overall are very solid over 130.1 innings with a 3.59 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 10.56 K/9, a 6-6 record with 20 saves. If you take last year’s numbers at Triple-A out the numbers drop to 2.72 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 10.4 K/9 and 18 saves in 102.1 innings. Miami needs bullpen help and his electric arm could be used late in games for a team now searching for late inning guys.
Connor Joe (1B/3B) – Reds from Dodgers
The guy with two first names is one of the more well-traveled minor leaguers in this Rule 5 Draft both in terms of organizations and positions played since being taken in the 2014 June draft with the 39th overall selection. Pittsburgh took him in that draft before shipping him to Atlanta in the Sean Rodriguez deal and then was sent to the Dodgers for some International Signing Pool money and now he’s on to Cincinnati and likely a bench spot. Joe, since reaching Double-A with Pittsburgh in 2017, has slashed .265/.369/.444 with 22 homers, 100 runs, 89 RBI, and five steals in 200 games and 658 at bats. That’s not bad production from a guy that has played first base, third base, left field, and right field, and was drafted as a catcher by the Reds in the Rule 5 because he’s been working there recently but has never played a pro game there since his Cape Cod League days. Cincinnati has lost bench depth this offseason and that’s what Joe figures to be on their roster this year and in case of injury he can play multiple positions.
Elvis Luciano (RHP) – Blue Jays from Royals
In perhaps the oddest selection of the Rule 5 Draft this year was Luciano being selected with the ninth pick by Toronto out of the Royals system. He was signed in October of 2016 and is still just 18 years old and will be until next February (02/15/2000 being his birthday). While selecting a guy that young is uncommon, A) due to his age and not normally being available in this format, and B) because the players selected have to remain on the 25-man rosters for the whole year. Toronto, according to their GM Ross Atkins, has a lot of confidence in his makeup and arm and believes he’s ready, despite never playing above rookie ball at any point of his pro career between Arizona’s and Kansas City’s systems. Luciano has pitched a total of 133.2 innings in his pro career, again nothing above rookie ball, but in that span he’s posted a 3.36 ERA, 3.66 FIP, 3.79 xFIP, 1.19 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 2.75 BB/9 with a 9-6 W-L record. There isn’t much to go on but those are solid numbers across the board for a guy you hope to be a mid-rotation starter down the road. In terms of repertoire, the 18-year-old righty possesses a sinking 92-96 mph fastball along with two secondary pitches that miss bats and flash as plus offerings in a 55-grade curveball and 50-grade changeup. While young and still not fully filled out at 6’2” and 184 lbs., he has a nice smooth and repeatable delivery already and it should only help him develop his arsenal even faster even in one of the toughest divisions for pitchers in the bigs.
Drew Jackson (2B/SS) – Phillies from Dodgers (Traded to Orioles)
Jackson was originally taken in the fifth-round of the 2015 draft after three years at Stanford and was shipped to the Dodgers in the Chase De Jong trade in 2017. Since making his pro debut, 384 games ago, he’s slashed .269/.360/.399 with a .760 OPS in 1465 at bats with 32 homers, 279 runs, 163 RBI, and 106 steals while adding 77 doubles and nine triples as well. As you can see from the slash line and the steals totals, he’s a speed guy who, if he gets on base, can wreak havoc on the base paths. Overall his Hit and Power grades (45 and 40 respectively) are a tick below-average on the 20-80 scouting scale but his Run and Arm tools (65 and 70 respectively) are both plus to plus-plus tools that make him a great defender at the Keystone and average defender at shortstop. Jackson has a good stroke from the right side of the plate when he thinks about keeping it short and using the whole field instead of getting pull-happy and trying for power, which doesn’t work well for him. If the Orioles can keep his approach to the former rather than the latter, he may be able to fill a middle infield spot and give them speed which they’ve been desperately lacking for quite some time.