The 2019 Rule 5 Draft will take place on December 12, 2019, the final day of the Winter Meetings held in San Diego, California. The purpose of the draft is to prevent teams from stockpiling major league ready talent in the minor leagues.

Eligibility

• Players who are 18 or under on the June 5 immediately preceding the players signing, the player will be eligible on the 5th Rule 5 Draft that follows his signing date.
• Players who are 19 or older on the June 5 immediately preceding the players signing, the player will be eligible on the 4th Rule 5 Draft that follows his signing date.
• There’s an exception for players signed between the conclusion of the season of the league to which the player is assigned and the next Rule 5 Draft. These players shall be deemed to have signed the next June 5th for the purposes of Rule 5 selection eligibility.

Each selection made costs the drafting team $100,000. Any player selected in the major league portion must remain on the 25-man roster for the entire season. If the player doesn’t remain on the 25-man roster for the entire season, he must be offered back to his original team for $50,000.

Since players selected must remain on the 25-man roster for the entirety of the season, picks are usually limited to pitchers with upside as relievers or positional players with strong

The breakdown below is based on current minor league assignments. I tried to weed out the players who will be free MiLB free agents.

AAA Gwinnett Stripers

AAA Position Players

AAA Pitchers

AAA Summary

Cristian Pache and Tucker Davidson are locks to be added to the 40-man.

Philip Pfeifer and Corbin Clouse are interesting. Pfeifer put up some intriguing performances down the stretch, including a 17 strike out performance in July. I wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them were protected, head-to-head, I'd give a slight edge to Clouse.

AA Mississippi Braves

AA Position Players

AA Pitchers

AA Summary

Two names really stand out here, that’s Jasseel De La Cruz and William Contreras. However, Jaseel is the only one who I would label a lock. Contreras, a catcher who hasn’t hit well in the upper minors. It might prove to be difficult to keep him on the active roster. With the new 26-man roster, a rebuilding team might be able to justify a 3-man catching unit. Even then, I would bet against him lasting on the roster all season long. That said, I think he's more likely to be protected than not.

Neslony put up some solid numbers in 2019. The numbers are less impressive when you consider he was a 25-year-old in his 3rd year at the AA level.

Hoekstra transitioning from position player to pitcher and Roney coming back from injury both put up great years. The duo of Burrows and Graham have been given more respect from the folks on the internet creating prospect list.

A+ Florida Fire Frogs & A Rome Braves

A+/A Position Players

A+/A Pitchers

A+/A Summary

Of this group, no one catches the eye as a guaranteed addition to the 40-man. None of the position players should be protected. The pitchers are interesting, but they all look more like org filler to me. Maybe the TC prospect folks with a deeper knowledge of the low minors disagree?

Recap - My Picks

• Christian Pache
• Tucker Davidson
• Jasseel De La Cruz
• William Contreras

FONZGraphs Custom Lists & Rule 5 Google Doc

AAA Players

AA Players

A+/A Players

Rule 5 Google Doc