Rule 5 Draft

With the Rule 5 draft coming up next week I thought it might be worth while to take a look at some of the more interesting players that are eligible for this year's draft. There is a handy list of all the eligible players for this year's draft here. First off the players in the Padres organization it lists as eligible are:

Nick Schmidt, Aaron Breit, Matt Buschmann, Nathan Culp, Steven Faris, Colt Hynes, Alexis Lara, Anthony Contreras, Andy Parrino, Quentin Berry, Craig Cooper, Hayden Beard, Nick Schumaker, Danny Payne.

I don't see any of those players being drafted and kept on a team for all of 2011, maybe Colt Hynes.

Now here are some position players I think the Padres should take a look at.

Sellers and Lawson are supposed to be + defenders while Wimberly is supposed to be below average. Marquez Smith is a + defender at 3B, but probably average at best at 2B where he only has 32 minor league games played. The rest are some where around average defensively. Brad Emaus and Ryan Adams are probably the most highly regarded, making organizational top prospect lists at some point. With Adams ranking 8th in Baseball America's Orioles prospect list for 2011.

There are also a number of eligible pitchers that could possibly be useful bullpen arms. I mainly looked for guys with high K/9 rates since I consider strike outs kind of a proxy for "stuff", and high strike out guys typically have the best chance of succeeding as relief pitchers

Brad Meyers was highly regarded and off to a great start last year, but injured his foot after just 6 starts. Meyers could potentially be a useful back of the rotation starter in the future, but not next year. Wynn Pelzer is the same Wynn Pelzer we traded for Miggy last year, and I think would have a very good chance of being a useful reliever. Even after a down year in 2010 Pelzer is ranked by Baseball America as the Orioles 6th best prospect going into 2011. I don't know why the Orioles can't find a way to fit Pelzer and Adams on their 40 man rosters, but I guess that's their problem.

For those unfamiliar with the rule 5 draft, the wiki article here is pretty helpful. Basically a player is eligible after 5 years in the minors if they were obtained when they were 18 or younger and after 4 years if they were 19 or older. The draft order is the same as it is for the regular June Amateur draft, that is from worst record to last. So we will be something like 22nd this year. A player that is chosen costs $50K and must be kept on the team's active roster for the next season or else offered back to the original team. Not every team picks a player and typically about 15-20 players are chosen in all. Most players chosen are pitchers since it's easier to hide a pitcher in a bullpen for a year than a position player on a bench.

Who knows what Hoyer and Co. will do, if anything, in this year's rule 5 draft, but there is possibly a diamond or two in that rough. With the trade and free agent markets being as thin as they are at middle infield this year and our need for at least one more reliever the rule 5 draft could be a means of the Padres filling a need on the cheap. Who knows maybe Hoyer could find the next Dan Uggla or Joakim Soria.