MLB Rule 5 Draft 2007 - MLN Sports Zone - A Minor League News Magazine

MLB Rule 5 Draft
At the close of the Winter Meetings, the Rule 5 Draft is part custom, part window of opportunity, and part useless exercise.

NASHVILLE, Tenn - The Rule 5 Draft is Major League Baseball's version of a casino night. Like all gambling events, it draws the opportunists and the desparate.

In Rule 5, teams can try to grab a player that is not protected from the roster of another club. It costs a major league team $50,000 to obtain the contract of the player that is not protected, a Triple-A team $12,000, and a Double-A club just $4,000. The club has to use the player on the major league roster, or on the appropriate Triple-A or Doubloe-A roster, for the full season. If they do not, the player is sent back to the team from where they were drafted, and the team getting them back is allowed to keep half of the money.

Think of it like Monopoly, but MLB style.

The failure rate of this system is about 85%, as teams make other deals and the Rule 5 players don't fit in the final jigsaw puzzle. Still, for teams like Cincinnati or Milwaukee, it may provide a few good spare parts, particularly in the bullpen. Pitchers are much easier to Rule 5 because they can fill immediate needs.

Most teams pull in a player or two to fill a possible need that usually gets filled by a signing or a trade. Many of the players never see a day in the other club's uniform, as they are returned before Spring even starts.

For a few players though, this is an enormous opportunity to get off a blocked depth chart, and usually find themselves in a stronger position with one of the step-children teams in the smaller markets of MLB.

The draft is complete. For analysis and the complete round-by round, including minor league and major league club breakdowns, click on the phase links, below, to see each section of the draft.

| Top of Story | Major League Phase* | Triple-A Phase* | Double-A Phase* | Draft by Position* | Draft by Minor League Club* |

See also: 2006 Rule 5 Draft

* Indicates premium content.