Eligible for Rule 5 Draft

[clancyphile]

At this point, I think Howell and Wilson are locks for the 40-man. Probably Fry, just to be on the safe side. All would be good picks for the end of a MLB bench. On the pitching side, Luke Barker for sure.

 

On the minor-league side, I'd probably move Ernesto Martinez to the AAA roster and protect him from the minor-league phase. Lazar, and a few of the others mentioned also should go there as well.

[CheeseheadInQC]

The news that some of the presumptive minor league free agents actually aren't adds a few possible names to this list. Would some team take a flyer on Dahl or Perdomo? Is Luna highly enough thought of (and healthy)?

[Outlander]

I don't think guys like Dahl or Perdomo are worth protecting, would presumably have to go through the arbitration process if they did so. Think Luna is a possibility but still a longshot.

[CheeseheadInQC]

With tomorrow being the deadline, I'll give my guess as two of Howell, Wilson and Fry (I'll say Howell and Wilson) and if there is a third it is Andrews.

[CheeseheadInQC]

With tomorrow being the deadline, I'll give my guess as two of Howell, Wilson and Fry (I'll say Howell and Wilson) and if there is a third it is Andrews.

 

Well, that was really wrong. I was getting less confident Howell would be protected, but I am surprised that no one was. It will be interesting to see if any get picked.

[ClosetBrewerFan]

With 5 open spots on the 40 man roster, I would have thought they would at least protect Howell. You would think a speedy, 23 year old, versatile utility player with pop would likely be taken in the rule 5 draft. Not the end of the world but seems to be a head scratcher to me.

 

Hopefully, they use these spots to either claim waived players or get their choice in some low cost FA by offering a major league contract when other teams rosters are full.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Don't know if this is the place for it, but I saw at least three former Brewers prospects added: Hummell, Francis and Gillaspie

[DHonks]

I thought Andrews made sense. He could be stashed on the DL and rehab assignment for a while, then given an audition by a team when the season may not matter.

[damuelle]

Maybe Stearns figures that there’s a high rate of selected players being returned to their original clubs at some point during the season…

 

…cause I can’t imagine Howell not being selected:

- 52 starts in CF this year

- 14 at 3B, 13 at SS, 8 in RF, 5 at 2B, 2 in LF

- 24 SBs, 6 CSs

- .804 OPS in 416 PAs in High-A / AA, thanks largely to extra-base hits: 16 home runs, 5 triples, 17 doubles

- 23 years old

- Essentially only played 3 MILB seasons

 

Of course, he’ll find it very tough being thrust into MLB for one season a few years too early, as his batting average was only .244, with 46 walks and 132 Ks.

[dtet]

It's probably a year too early for teams to be interested in Howell.

 

40% K rate in AA. He was thrown out 3 of 7 seven times in AA (small sample of course), suggesting he still needs more work translating his speed to SB at the upper levels, where they focus more on controlling the running game. Keep in mind they also had the step-off rule in high-A this year. Fielding pct was .929 on the IF.

 

He may end up turning into something eventually, but having him be the last guy on the bench is not going to help his development. There's other unprotected players on the other 29 teams who are better risks.

 

 

Here's an example, look at Max Schuemann in the A's system.

 

A year older. Hit .320 in AA with 18% K rate. 52/57 on SB across 3 levels. Played SS in hi-A, 957 fielding percentage as IF in 2021.

[damuelle]

You’re probably right, dtet. Very few position players get selected each year. And the fact that nobody signed 23-year old OF Oscar Gonzalez to an MLB deal after hitting 31 HRs in AA/AAA is perhaps a sign of just how high the bar is. Fingers crossed.

[Mass Haas]

Reminder on Gillaspie's situation - normally Brewers will stick through a youngster's rehab, this seemed very abrupt.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Howell seems to be somewhere between the upside stashes, who are often younger, and the ready to contribute guys. I could see him getting picked, but I could also see the K rate scaring teams off. It seems like there are usually a couple of guys like Wilson and Fry who get picked, but who knows which team's version gets taken. I'd say that it seems like they will lose one of these guys, but I thought the same thing the last couple of years, so ...

 

While I don't know if they will lose anyone in the major league Rule 5 draft, looking at the numbers, it seems like there is a decent shot they lose someone in the minor league phase. Numbers-wise, they might have expose a couple of guys who could attract interest, be it an outfield prospect (Abreu, Ward, Castillo, Lujano) or a young pitcher (Murphy, Vassalotti) or a chunk of the organization's catching depth (Hall, Diaz, Rios), a rookie ball guy (Chirinos, Larry Ernesto) or someone coming off an injury (Lemons, Sunitsch). It isn't like last year where, in part because of the COVID purge, they just protected almost everyone. Will be interesting to see if we get a preview (albeit not a perfect one) of who they protected on the Nashville roster page in the next couple of days like happened last year.

[Mass Haas]

From my tweet Wednesday:

 

"For me very impressive Brewers retained OF David Dahl, OF/1B Dustin Peterson & versatile Jamie Westbrook on '22 minor deals (apparently). Team hasn't listed non-roster invites on their site yet, but these 3 would be locks. Heck if Crew is to lose anyone in Rule 5, it's Westbrook."

[Eye Black]

According to Baseball America the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft will not take place this year while the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft will still take place as scheduled.

 

Congrats to the Brewers, I guess, for not wasting any 40-man roster spots on players that ultimately would’ve been protected for no reason.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

According to Baseball America the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft will not take place this year while the Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft will still take place as scheduled.

 

Congrats to the Brewers, I guess, for not wasting any 40-man roster spots on players that ultimately would’ve been protected for no reason.

 

Methinks the powers that be in the front office saw the writing on the wall. I feel bad for those minor leaguers who will now not have an opportunity at the MLB level in 2022, though.

[CheeseheadInQC]

Now the word is postponed indefinitely, which makes more sense. I think there would have been an uproar from teams that cleared spots were it canceled outright.

 

I imagine it will be two days or so after the lockout ends. I had read the plan had been for the minor league portion of the winter meetings to go on as planned, so I am not surprised they are splitting the two drafts.

[damuelle]

I assume the list of players eligible for selection in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 Draft scheduled for December 9th has grown, given recent signings (e.g. Monasterio) and apparent player retentions (e.g. Westbrook). I also think that we may have omitted a few from the original list, unless I'm misunderstanding eligibility rules (e.g. Luis Silva, Alberis Ferrer, Oswel Leones, Junior Montero, Christian Tripp, Nate Peden, Justin Miller, Zach Mort, Robbie Baker). So I count 71 eligible players, of which we can protect 38. And here's my guess which nobody requested to hear and which nobody will ever be able to verify against the actual 38-man list (which is not published):

 

Protect: D. Fry, W. Wilson, M. Mathias, J. Westbrook, A. Monasterio, D. Dahl, K. Rios, K. Howell, T. Lutz, A. Hall, E. Martinez, C. Rodriguez, J. Chirinos, D. Castillo, T. Kelley, L. Barker, J. Alexander, T. Jankins, L. Perdomo, H. Harris, P. Strzelecki, J. Hintzen, Z. Brown, R. Hitt, C. Andrews, A. Otero, C. Luna, N. Zavolas, J. Bullock, M. Lazar, V. Castaneda, L. Erceg, H. Chirino, C. Robinson, B. Murphy, M. Vassalotti, J. Geraldo, I. Puello.

 

Don't Protect: D. Peterson, J. Davis, B. Diaz, J. Lujano, L. Castillo, A. Pinero, Y. Coca, C. McClanahan, J. Ward, P. Abreu, J. Sibrian, A. Ferrer, O. Leones, L. Silva, L. Ernesto, J. Lindblom, R. Brothers, C. Sadzeck, M. Hardy, C. Sierra, N. Walters, B. Webb, J. Matulovich, S. Sunitsch, Z. Mort, R. Baker, B. Schanuel, C. Lemons, J. Montero, C. Tripp, N. Peden, J. Miller, K. Morales.

[MadThinker88]

Unless someone can link to an official announcement, my understanding over the past few years was the roster deadline for the MLB 40 man roster was also the deadline for setting the minor league list of 38 players.

 

Remember: there is no requirement in the minor league portion of the R5 draft that players remain at a certain level and no mechanism for player to be returned to their original organization. Once a player is selected, they are basically gone (barring a trade back or pickup via waivers)

[CheeseheadInQC]

Unless someone can link to an official announcement, my understanding over the past few years was the roster deadline for the MLB 40 man roster was also the deadline for setting the minor league list of 38 players.

 

Remember: there is no requirement in the minor league portion of the R5 draft that players remain at a certain level and no mechanism for player to be returned to their original organization. Once a player is selected, they are basically gone (barring a trade back or pickup via waivers)

 

I believe you are correct, so I am not sure about minor league free agents signed after that date (I wondered if a few of them weren't officially announced until later for that exact purpose).

 

I disagree with a few of Damuelle's picks, but I do think there is a very good chance the Brewers lose someone in the AAA phase, unless the pandemic year has left every team in this position.

[damuelle]

Unless someone can link to an official announcement, my understanding over the past few years was the roster deadline for the MLB 40 man roster was also the deadline for setting the minor league list of 38 players.

 

Remember: there is no requirement in the minor league portion of the R5 draft that players remain at a certain level and no mechanism for player to be returned to their original organization. Once a player is selected, they are basically gone (barring a trade back or pickup via waivers)

 

You're probably right, which would mean we can open up 2-4 more slots from my list depending on whether the team coordinated with A. Monasterio and H. Harris to sign their contracts post-November 19th.

[damuelle]

The MILB Rule 5 draft is today.

 

In the first round, we drafted Caleb Boushley - RHP Padres. And we lost Catcher Kekai Rios to the Dodgers.

 

https://www.mlb.com/news/2021-rule-5-draft-minor-league-phase?t=mlb-pipeline-coverage

[nate82]

Caleb Boushley is a WI native and went to UW-La Crosse. Throws a low 90's fastball but can command the pitch the only other pitch worth mentioning is his curveball which he can spot in the zone. He looks to be AAA rotation or bullpen filler.

[Zad Fnark]

Heard he's from Hortonville, right by my hometown.

 

Good to see.

[liveforoctober]

Heard he's from Hortonville, right by my hometown.

 

Good to see.

 

Where is your hometown? I'm from Hortonville.