Twins Pass in MLB Rule 5 Draft, Add Four Players in Minor League Portion

[Seth Stohs]

Each year on the final day of the Baseball Winter Meetings, the Rule 5 draft is held. The Twins entered the draft with 36 players on their 40-man roster. In theory, they could have selected four players. Instead, they selected none. In the minor-league portion, they added four players without losing anyone. 

Image courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

The last time the Minnesota Twins made a Rule 5 pick was in 2017. That year, they drafted right-handed reliever Tyler Kinley. Kinley made the roster but was returned to the Marlins early in the season. 

That trend continued on Wednesday when the Twins passed on the opportunity to add players to their 40-man roster for $100,000. There had been some thought that the Twins might be looking at potential relief pitchers with their pick, but they ultimately opted not to. 

Fortunately for the team, they also didn't lose any players. Only 10 players were selected in the MLB phase. There were certainly concerns that the team could lose outfielder DaShawn Keirsey, Jr., infielder Anthony Prato, catcher and first baseman Chris Williams, or even right-hander Miguel Gonzalez. They had protected catcher Jair Camargo, infielder Yunior Severino, Utilityman Austin Martin, and outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez. 

In the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 draft, however, the Twins were fairly busy. They added four players and lost none. The club selected left-handed pitcher Rafael Marcano from the Phillies. The 23-year-old pitched for High-A Jersey Shore in 2023. Twenty of his 23 appearances came as a starter. He went 5-6 with a 3.95 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. In 93 1/3 innings, he had 97 strikeouts and 42 walks.

In the second round, the Twins selected catcher Rafael Escalante from the Pirates Complex League roster. Escalante is a 22-year-old who has also played first and third base in his career. In the FCL in 2023, he hit .256/.409/.367, with four doubles and two homers. He had 23 walks to go with 15 strikeouts.

Infielder Angel Del Rosario was their third-round pick in the minor-league portion. The 20-year-old played 57 games in Low A and eight games in High A in the Blue Jays organization. Combined, he hit .267/.342/.403, with nine doubles, two triples, and five home runs. He also had 25 stolen bases. In 236 plate appearances, he had 70 strikeouts and 19 walks. 

The Twins also selected right-handed pitcher Sheldon Reed from the Cubs organization. At High-A South Bend, he went 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. In 53 1/3 innings over 40 relief appearances, he had 63 strikeouts and 26 walks. 

A year ago, the Twins drafted four players in the minor-league Rule 5 draft... Can you remember them? 

RHP Seth Nordlin and OF Armani Smith were released around midseason. Yohander Martinez missed some time with injury, but he's still in the organization. In the "pleasant surprise" department, Yoyner Fajardo played in 123 games and hit .305/.375/.446 (.820) with 23 doubles, eight triples, nine homers, and 50 stolen bases. 

Now that the Rule 5 draft is complete, we can expect to hear about a bunch of minor-league signings across all of baseball. Teams want to delay those signings so that they don't have to worry about losing those players in the Rule 5 draft. 

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[Dman]

I really thought a team might be able to take a chance on Prato, but glad I was wrong..  It is hard to hide position players on the 26 man.  I was surprised Washington grabbed Nunez, but he has speed and a good eye at the plate but no power and not much of a hit tool.  Prato probably just too old and he had an uneven season last year.  Glad the FO didn't waste any 40 man spots.  They will need them for waiver wire pickups and adding players.

If the Twins are going to promote Lewis, Culpepper, Matthews and maybe Morris or Jones I guess I can see why they grabbed some High A pitchers in the AAA portion of the draft as there is no one left to promote from A ball and if they promote all of Lewis, Culpepper, Matthews they needed at least two more arms which they got in Marcano and Reed.

Escalante looks a bit like Olivar in the Twins system as he has a good OBP and low strike out numbers (balanced line).  Not much in the way of power though, but maybe the Twins think they can unlock something there?

Del Rosario is pretty young and at the lower levels but the A ball options are a bit slim so guessing they just added another wild card because they could?

Overall just happy the Twins didn't lose any players in either phase and were able to build a little depth in spots they could use it.

[ashbury]

12 minutes ago, Dman said:

Prato probably just too old and he had an uneven season last year. 

Not nearly as uneven (or downright paradoxical) as the raw stats would indicate. 

His BABIP at AA was absurdly low.  Seemingly the Twins FO took that into account and promoted him to AAA anyway, where he suddenly reversed his BABIP to a likely unsustainably high value. 

His real potential is probably somewhere in between and if you deduct a factor for what he would do if promoted another level higher to the majors, it's not totally surprising no one took a flyer on him.

[Mike Sixel]

Least shocking news of the day. The angst over this every year....

[Guest]

How does a player become eligible for the minor league Rule 5 Draft?

[Dman]

3 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Not nearly as uneven (or downright paradoxical) as the raw stats would indicate. 

His BABIP at AA was absurdly low.  Seemingly the Twins FO took that into account and promoted him to AAA anyway, where he suddenly reversed his BABIP to a likely unsustainably high value. 

His real potential is probably somewhere in between and if you deduct a factor for what he would do if promoted another level higher to the majors, it's not totally surprising no one took a flyer on him.

Its a 100 to 200 point drop for OPS generally from AAA and that still puts Prato in the 700 OPS range. He also has a very even K and walk rate which is generally an indicator of greater success at the MLB level.  The potential seems to be there if you believe the AAA numbers (Granted high unsustainable BABIP).

A fair number of good bats that seemed like they might get taken no one took and maybe the worst hitter of all of them Nunez got taken.  I assume mainly because of eye at the plate and good defense, but with a .224 BA and .672 OPS those numbers likely don't translate well to MLB at all. Hard to predict the chances teams will take.

Will be watching Prato to see if he is for real or just had a good 4 month run.

[ashbury]

12 minutes ago, Verified Member said:

How does a player become eligible for the minor league Rule 5 Draft?

Here's an explanation (from 2019 but it's probably nearly the same today):

https://www.milb.com/news/the-rule-5-draft-explained-311955076

Basically, after the major league phase is completed, each team can protect 38 more players in the minors.  The same rules of eligibility (number of seasons played, depending on age when they started) apply, so no recently-drafted or recently-signed prospects can be drafted in either of the phases.

[Guest]

ashbury - Thank you for the reply and the link.

[Danchat]

I didn't expect them to take anyone. Maybe if one of the early names like Matt Sauer fell to them.

Nice to see they didn't lose anyone, but we'd be alright without Prato or Keirsey.

[Nine of twelve]

There's a reason players like these are referred to as lottery tickets. Hardly any of them amount to more than minor league roster fillers but every now and then you might get very lucky, especially if you have a very good scouting system.

[TopGunn#22]

I don't know if ANY of these guys will make it.  But Fajardo hit .305 and stole 50 (FIFTY!!!!!) bases for Wichita.  I don't think I heard anything about him for most of this year in the minor league write ups.  He was probably mentioned prominently in those reports but I had no idea we had a guy with stolen base ability in our minor league system.  Good Get.  

[LewFordLives]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Least shocking news of the day. The angst over this every year....

It's been a slow off-season. We need something to over analyze and critique until the next minor league signing.

[Jacksson]

Predictable = After all $100,000 IS $100,000 especially when you constantly preach poverty.

[Jacksson]

The Pohlad Family Tree is filled with birds that can only call:

CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP !!

[ashbury]

39 minutes ago, Jacksson said:

Predictable = After all $100,000 IS $100,000 especially when you constantly preach poverty.

Rule-5 guys invariably earn Major League minimum salary.  So had the Twins filled up their 4 open spots on the 40-man this way, we'd be using that as evidence of miserliness instead.

[Blyleven2011]

18 minutes ago, Jacksson said:

The Pohlad Family Tree is filled with birds that can only call:

CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP !!

They can only churp  the words cheap  ...

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, Jacksson said:

The Pohlad Family Tree is filled with birds that can only call:

CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP !!

If they filled the roster with rule v draftees you would be correct. What they add has yet to be determined, last I knew it was still early December. 

[jorgenswest]

I wonder if not losing anyone is a sign that their system is not as strong. It is great not to lose anyone. Is it better to have so much depth that teams want the back end of that depth when they have to be left available?

[LastOnePicked]

3 hours ago, LewFordLives said:

It's been a slow off-season. We need something to over analyze and critique until the next minor league signing.

Absolutely. I was looking forward to getting all huffy about losing Kiersey. Now what am I going to gripe about?

[Squirrel]

2 hours ago, Jacksson said:

The Pohlad Family Tree is filled with birds that can only call:

CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP-CHEAP !!

You have that backwards. Not taking anyone in the rule 5 is probably the opposite of cheap.

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

I wonder if not losing anyone is a sign that their system is not as strong. It is great not to lose anyone. Is it better to have so much depth that teams want the back end of that depth when they have to be left available?

I was thinking about that too.  They lose someone: "Woe is us!"  They lose no one: "Woe is really us!" 

[Mike Sixel]

1 hour ago, jorgenswest said:

I wonder if not losing anyone is a sign that their system is not as strong. It is great not to lose anyone. Is it better to have so much depth that teams want the back end of that depth when they have to be left available?

Almost no one was taken. This draft just isn't meaningful anymore

[old nurse]

9 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I wonder if not losing anyone is a sign that their system is not as strong. It is great not to lose anyone. Is it better to have so much depth that teams want the back end of that depth when they have to be left available?

Losing players means that the team is slow developing players. Losing players also means that the team is better at picking fringe prospects than real prospects 

[jmlease1]

9 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Almost no one was taken. This draft just isn't meaningful anymore

It's certainly less meaningful. Clubs realize that it's more difficult to hold a player on the 26-man all season, especially if they're not ready to contribute in some way, with the way injuries stack up and constant need for more pitchers in today's game. It could still be a useful tool for rebuilding clubs, but going into a season with the expanded playoffs there are fewer teams that are going into a season with no hope as well.

I'm a little surprised someone didn't take a flyer on Kiersey, but minor league evaluators are getting better, especially when a guy has 5 seasons of minor league experience. Not mad about keeping him around as CF insurance, but at the same he wouldn't have been a major loss.

[miracleb]

Escalante looks intriguing!  But, he is 22 years old and has been in the Pirates organization for 3-4 years and never has had over 100 at bats in a single year?  Injury concerns?  If his "glove" ends up being average, seems like this was a solid "lottery ticket" effort.      :-)

[Steve Lein]

16 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I don't know if ANY of these guys will make it.  But Fajardo hit .305 and stole 50 (FIFTY!!!!!) bases for Wichita.  I don't think I heard anything about him for most of this year in the minor league write ups.  He was probably mentioned prominently in those reports but I had no idea we had a guy with stolen base ability in our minor league system.  Good Get.  

I can definitely say he showed up in those reports quite often! At least he did in mine, hah!

Got a few questions asking about what type of player he was, this was one of my answers:

"Good organizational depth. 24-year old getting his first action at the double-A level this year. He has stood out in a quite a few of my reports this year I feel like, hitting .300 with 30 steals, but is another lefty corner outfielder, lacking some thump."  

It would not surprise me to see him start back in Wichita again next year, but probably depends on how many Andrew Stevenson type signings the Twins make now that the Rule 5 draft is over.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, miracleb said:

Escalante looks intriguing!  But, he is 22 years old and has been in the Pirates organization for 3-4 years and never has had over 100 at bats in a single year?  Injury concerns?  If his "glove" ends up being average, seems like this was a solid "lottery ticket" effort.      :-)

Not a good sign when they have a 21 year old repeat rookie ball. Even worse when he doesn't get a whole lot better.

[jorgenswest]

12 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Almost no one was taken. This draft just isn't meaningful anymore

I was thinking on the minors end where we took 4 and lost no one.

[Seth Stohs]

21 hours ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I don't know if ANY of these guys will make it.  But Fajardo hit .305 and stole 50 (FIFTY!!!!!) bases for Wichita.  I don't think I heard anything about him for most of this year in the minor league write ups.  He was probably mentioned prominently in those reports but I had no idea we had a guy with stolen base ability in our minor league system.  Good Get.  

Pretty sure he was mentioned in there quite a lot! ;-) 

Here are some of those mentions... These are the articles that he was tagged in, but obviously we could only tag five players per article, so he was probably mentioned in like 4-5 times this many articles. A google search for "Twins Daily" "Yoyner Fajardo" brings back a ton of articles. 

[Seth Stohs]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Not a good sign when they have a 21 year old repeat rookie ball. Even worse when he doesn't get a whole lot better.

It's not ideal, but it's not like it doesn't happen. It's probably much more likely with catchers... and there are usually three catchers on rookie league rosters and each catches maybe twice a week, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. 

However, he was available in the minor-league Rule 5 draft, so the odds of him being a big leaguer aren't real high. But it's always good to have catchers, and there are always exceptions. I mean, Brian Buscher was a minor-league Rule 5 pick! :)