On Thursday, Major League Baseball held its Rule 5 draft, when clubs without a full 40-man roster could select certain non-protected players from other clubs.
Eligible players are players within the minor league system that have not been placed on that team’s 40-man roster for a set length of time. Players who signed with their current club at age 18 or younger and have five years of experience are eligible to be drafted if they aren’t on the 40-man roster, and players who signed at 19 or older and have four years of experience are also eligible.
Selection order is based on the reverse order of standing from the previous season, and teams that make a selection from another club must pay that club $100,000. Rule 5 Draft picks are then assigned directly to the drafting club’s 26-man roster. A player must be placed on outright waivers in order to be removed from the 26-man roster in the subsequent season.
Dennis laid out more parameters in his column yesterday.
There is a major league phase and a minor league phase. In the major league phase, the Dodgers lost RHP Brett de Geus to the Texas Rangers and RHP Jordan Sheffield to the Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers themselves declined to take anyone in the major league round.
de Geus was the Dodgers 33rd round draft pick in 2017 out of junior college. He was a non-roster invite to Dodgers Spring Training in 2020.
Sheffield was also a non-roster invite to spring training in 2020 and rose as high at Double-A Tulsa during his tenure with the Dodgers organization.
The Dodgers also had six other players selected during the minor league phase of the draft. RHP Shea Spitzbarth was taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Arizona Diamondbacks chose LHP Tyler Gilbert. SS Errol Robinson was taken by the Cincinnati Reds. Outfielder Chris Roller went to the Cleveland Indians. IF Drew Jackson was chosen by the New York Mets, and IF Marcus Chiu went to the Miami Marlins.
If the player chosen by a team does not stay on their active roster for the whole season, he must be offered back to the team he was chosen from for $50,000.
For their part, the Dodgers made two selections in the minor league draft. They selected catcher Ryan January from the Diamondbacks and OF Roimer Bolivar from the Tampa Bay Rays.