Rule 5 draft primer: Who to watch for on Dec. 12

Some interesting minor-league players will probably change hands next month.

Nov 21, 2013, 10:15 PM UTC

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

When all 30 MLB clubs gather at an Orlando resort early next month, the four-day frenzy of trades and signings known as the Winter Meetings won’t be the only annual tradition carried out. The final day of the meetings is reserved for the Rule 5 draft, a process in which teams get to add players to their active roster from a pool of eligible minor-league players.

More Rule 5: Teams stuff rosters ahead of draft

Minor leaguers become eligible for the Rule 5 process when they reach either their fourth or fifth draft since starting their pro career, depending on their age on the June 5 preceding their signing. (If 18 or younger, it’s five. Otherwise it’s four.) The only way of keeping an eligible player out of the draft is for a team to add him to its 40-man roster before the league-wide deadline, which was midnight Wednesday.

Now that the deadline has passed, teams cannot add anyone within the organization to their rosters and be afforded Rule 5 protection. They can remove as many guys as they want to make room for new acquisitions, but those players would then be subject to the waiver wire (i.e. unprotected).

While Rule 5 draftees rarely make an large impression on big-league clubs these days -- not like they used to, anyways -- every now and then someone like Nate Freiman (A's) or Josh Fields (Astros) will flourish in a small role and stick around for a year or two more. Not many impact names was been left unguarded this winter, but there are still a number of players to keep an eye on, per J.J. Cooper of Baseball America.

The majority of players featured on Cooper's list are relief pitchers, including Yankees right-handers Danny Burawa and Tommy Kahnle, as well as tall Cubs farmhand Marcus Hatley. Guys like utility man Mike Freeman (Diamondbacks), shortstop Marco Hernandez (Cubs) and outfielder Darrell Ceciliani (Mets) are also ones to watch, though the relievers on the list probably have a higher probability of sticking given the high volatility of bullpens.

It should be noted that the draft is available only to clubs with at least one 40-man roster spot to spare, so not everyone will get an opportunity to find a diamond in the rough next month. For instance, if the current roster numbers were to remain unchanged between now and the final day of the Winter Meetings -- which they most definitely won’t -- only 16 teams would be eligible to participate.

Participation in the draft is also not mandatory for teams, so a club like the Dodgers, who currently have six open 40-man roster spots, could decide to skip the process all together. The reason a team would choose this avenue rather than sign an essentially free ($50,000) player, is that Rule 5 picks must remain on a team's active roster for the entirety of the following season. If a team decides it doesn't want the pick anymore, it must send the player back to the original organization.