Twins Select 1988 Toyota Celica in Obscure Rule 6 Draft

[RandBalls Stu]

‘The Rule 5 Draft is fine and all, but there are some real gems in the 6.’

Image courtesy of Public Domain

No franchise is more aware of the benefits of the Rule 5 Draft than the Minnesota Twins. Plucking Johan Santana from Houston’s Class A affiliate in 1999 is one of the savviest moves in recent MLB history. This year, though, the Twins are training their focus on the more obscure Rule 6 Draft, where they’ve already acquired a 1988 Toyota Celica.

“This thing’s a real beauty,” said a front office source. “Less than 200,000 miles, small crack in the windshield, brakes are a little squeaky, but it’ll get you where you want to go. We love the veteran presence and durability it brings to the organization.

“The Rule 5 Draft is fine and all, but there are some absolute gems in the 6.”

The Rule 5 Draft allows teams with open 40-man roster spots to select unprotected players from other teams. The much more obscure Rule 6 Draft lets teams acquire anything left in the parking lots of MLB stadiums after the final home game of their season. The Celica was parked in the Coors Field employee lot in Denver.

“One of our scouts was there at the trade deadline and was super impressed (by the car),” said the source. “He got the Blue Book out, did some due diligence, and it's been on our radar since.”

The source said they’re hoping the Celica can be used to transport players to and from the airport for call-ups, injury recovery, and other essential baseball activities.

Other notable Rule 6 acquisitions by the Twins include a severely dented but otherwise operational dorm fridge from Chicago's Wrigley Field media lot in 2017, and New Prague hobby farmer Junior Ortiz in 1990. Ortiz mistook the Metrodome parking lot for a Frattallone’s Ace Hardware and would go on to be the backup catcher on Minnesota's 1991 World Champions.

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[gman]

I heard the Celica will hold at least 13 clowns. I'm curious about how many extra bullpen arms they can fit into that space? What's it rated at, for bullpen to mound trips?

[Original_JB]

Wow, had I known, I would have left that portable Hibachi I found at Metropolitan Stadium back in the day. Could've be helpful in the BP for some of those March starts.

[Parfigliano]

Fools!!!  Should have gone for the Honda Civic in SanD with  brand new spark plugs.

[Brandon]

So the Twins took a grizzled vet instead of the young unknown Genesis G70 for example . No one has heard of him or knows what to expect when you get him.  At least you know that Celica has a solid floor.  His ceiling isn’t to high but easily the most projectable and cost controlled  pick available.

[ashbury]

I am surprised the Oakland Coliseum parking lot didn't provide savvy GMs with good choices this year.  One time, an entire abandoned church was selected via Rule 6 by the Atlanta Braves, despite the expense of transporting it, and their team chaplain holds weekly services there to this very day.  For all I know, the A's may have left behind their full roster of AA prospects on that enormous, barren expanse of asphalt in their haste to leave town.

[ashbury]

BTW that 1988 Celica somewhat resembles, but is not quite as beautiful as, a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck.

[Mark G]

I am curious as to how much of their international pool money they had to spend on a Japanese model. 🤔

[Richie the Rally Goat]

On 11/22/2024 at 12:56 PM, ashbury said:

I am surprised the Oakland Coliseum parking lot didn't provide savvy GMs with good choices this year.  One time, an entire abandoned church was selected via Rule 6 by the Atlanta Braves, despite the expense of transporting it, and their team chaplain holds weekly services there to this very day.  For all I know, the A's may have left behind their full roster of AA prospects on that enormous, barren expanse of asphalt in their haste to leave town.

The entire Oakland Coliseum was in this year’s rule 6, but went unselected.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

On 11/22/2024 at 5:40 PM, ashbury said:

BTW that 1988 Celica somewhat resembles, but is not quite as beautiful as, a 2024 Tesla Cybertruck.

But they wanted the Celica... They were in a position to draft the Cyber Truck, so they actually picked this, and traded it back to the team that drafted the Celica with some swanky "pitch to contact" bumper stickers thrown in.

 

That's fancy dealing.