Teams protected 59 prospects on 40-man rosters two weeks ago but left several others up for grabs in the annual Rule 5 Draft. That draft will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 11, at 2 p.m. ET at the Winter Meetings in Dallas.
Any player who turned pro at age 18 or younger in 2020 or at age 19 or older in 2021 is eligible for selection in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft if he isn’t on a 40-man roster. Clubs who take a player in that phase must pay his former team $100,000 and keep him on their active big league roster throughout the following season. The player can’t be sent to the Minors without first clearing waivers and then getting offered back to his original organization for half his draft price.
Teams chose 10 players in the Major League phase of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft and six of them stuck with their new organizations: Mitch Spence (Athletics), Anthony Molina (Rockies), Nasim Nuñez (Nationals), Ryan Fernandez (Cardinals), Justin Slaten (Red Sox) and Stephen Kolek (Padres).
Who might be changing addresses in Dallas? Below, we identify a potentially tempting Rule 5 possibility from each organization.
AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
Blue Jays: Dasan Brown, OF (No. 23)
Brown’s bat is a major question mark, especially when it comes to power, and he’s played only 32 games above the High-A level, so it’s not hard to see why Toronto left him unprotected. But his 80-grade speed and plus glove could absolutely play in the Majors right now, and with the added emphasis on wheels in recent years, that could be enough to get him on the end of an MLB roster. Brown has swiped at least 20 bags in four straight seasons and topped out at 35 in 2024.
Orioles: Alex Pham, RHP (No. 25)
Almost exclusively a reliever over four years at the University of San Francisco, Pham joined the Orioles as a 19th-round pick in the 2021 Draft. He got the chance to start for the first time in 2023 and had some success, reaching Double-A, returning there for all of the 2024 season and finishing third in the Eastern League with 138 strikeouts and in the top 10 in ERA (4.24), WHIP (1.24) and BAA (.221). He was up to 95 mph with his fastball as a starter last year and can miss bats with an array of secondary offerings, the best of which might be his 86-88 mph cutter.
Rays: Evan Reifert, RHP
Anyone who saw Reifert strike out 25 in 11 2/3 scoreless innings in the 2022 Arizona Fall League might be surprised he hasn’t snuck onto a 40-man roster by now. Right-shoulder inflammation limited him to 7 2/3 innings last year, and he posted a 1.96 ERA and 0.92 WHIP with 65 K’s in 41 1/3 frames for Double-A Montgomery in 2024. The 25-year-old righty is slider-dominant, throwing the 82-85 mph offering 52 percent of the time per Synergy Sports. It’s easy to see why: he generated whiffs on 70 percent of swings against the pitch in the Southern League. His 94-97 mph fastball is a little less impressive, so Rule 5 clubs willing to love heavy breaking-ball usage will take a hard look.
Red Sox: Yordanny Monegro, RHP (No. 25)
Signed for $35,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2020, Monegro sports one of the best curveballs in Boston’s system and sets it up with a low-90s fastball. He may be more reliever than starter and missed the first two months of last season with shoulder issues, but he came back to post a 2.73 ERA, .176 average-against and 82 strikeouts in 66 High-A innings.
Yankees: Zach Messinger, RHP (No. 17)
Messinger also looks more like a reliever than a starter, but he misses a lot of bats with a mid-80s sweeper and uses his 6-foot-6 frame to create deceptive angle and extension. A 13th-rounder out of Virginia in 2021, he also has a 92-94 mph fastball and topped the Double-A Eastern League in average-against (.207) and WHIP (1.11) while finishing second in ERA (3.06) and fanning 136 in 150 innings.