Rule 5 Draft Arrives
stadiumreport.bbn January 2nd, 2022
For the average fan, the Rule 5 draft may mean very little. To executives and managers around the league, it's a chance to find a hidden treasure.
The Rule 5 draft allows clubs to grab a player who has been languishing in another team's minor leagues and give them the chance to spend the season in the bigs.
"The Rule 5 is never going to produce a ton of top level ballplayers", said Portland Bears manager Joe Robinson. "But if an opportunity comes up to just grab a single guy that would be a good fit, it is well worth the time and the effort to scour the available list."
We had some 2.5* players up for grabs in this one that were stashed in AAA for depth, so the question was… would we lose someone?
Before that was decided… we ended up adding someone as the
San José Killer Whales left RHRP
Melvin Hernandez(29, 3*, 3-0 4.59 55K 49IP 1.1WAR) up for grabs. He is earning $1.74M, but many regard him as a good reliever, and we made the call to get him.
On the other hand, those
Kansas City Royals selected 2B/SS
Joe Hawk(23, 2.5*, .254-12-44 .761OPS 2.3WAR A/AA/AAA) from us. Not a great defender but a decent hitter, we tried to smuggle him through… bad luck.
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News:
January 2nd – The
New York Mets have claimed LF/RF
Brian Oatley(28, 2.5*) off waivers from the
Montreal Expos. The backup outfielder has hit .289-1-8 .728OPS 0.5WAR in 27 games last season before going down with injury.
Im fine with that.
January 8th – 3B
Randy Dworkin(27, 2.5*, .277-13-66 .755OPS 144G 2.6WAR AA/AAA) and 2B
Josh Donald(27, 2.5*, .212-11-40 .598OPS 111G 0.5WAR) signed minor league deals for us.
January 26th – After long and drawn out negotiations, we were able to sign SS
Manny Ramirez(16, 5*) from the international free agent pool for $7.7M, our whole budget. The 16-year old has elite power potential and is decently rated defensively, tho his future may just be third or first base.
February 2nd – The biggest name left in free agency has signed. 2B/3B/SS/RF
Tim Aguilar(34, 4*, .320-26-89 .974OPS 4.7WAR) signed a 4y/$117.2M contract with the
Boston Aeros with year four being a vesting option.
February 5th – The
Cincinnati Eagles added two big arms as SP
J.R. Heilman(34, 3.5*, 10-11 4.19 175K 32GS 3.2WAR) agreed to a 5y/$67.5M contract AND SP
Ramon Ruedas(33 ,4*, 11-10 3.14 169K 33G 4.1WAR) for 4y/$113M with year four being a vesting option.
February 9th – Resigning with the
Oakland Oaks will be SP
Frank Galaz(29, 3.5*). Coming off a 8-9 4.38 192K 33G 3.4WAR season,
Galaz stays with his team for 6y/$134.6M.
February 11th – The 2x Silver Slugger 2B
John Foley(29, 3.5*) signed a 2y/$45.2M contract with the
Memphis Bolts. The switch-hitter is coming off a .243-2-8 .746OPS year in 19 games as he went down with a ruptured ACL and is out for 3-4 more months.
Wall of Legends Results
Right fielder
Jeff Jewell started his career with the
Montreal Expos, playing three strong seasons from 2000-2002, yet they failed to resign him and
Portland took the chance in free agency and never looked back. 2x MvP, 3x Gold Glover, 9x All-Star 7x Silver Slugger, he was the king of walks with an .415 OBP and led the League in OBP in five seasons.
Lefty starter
Matt Brightt was inducted with his first team, the
Memphis Bolts, but had dominant seasons with
Seattle during four strong seasons. A 3x Pitcher of the Year and 8x All-Star, he was a fringe selection for me with a career ERA of 3.79.
Development Camp Results:
A LHSP
Brett Asselin(22, 2/4*) ->> Improved his changeup SUCCESSFUL
NMLB 1B
Cody Kerzner(26, 2.5/3*) ->> FAILED to generate more batspeed
AAA SS
Julian Hernandez(22, 2/4*) ->> Quality of Contact improvement SUCCESSFUL
NMLB RF
Ian Messer(25, 2.5/3*) ->> FAILED to generate more quality of contact
NMLB CF
Vicente Rodiguez(23, 2.5*) ->> FAILED to improve his plate discipline
R CF
Tyler Dean(18, 1/5*) ->> FAILED to generate more batspeed
Not as good as last year, but some improvement. Brett Asselin and Julian Hernandez are key parts here.
Next up: SPRING TRAINING, FINAL OPENING DAY ROSTER AND FIRST PITCH