The deadline for protecting players from the 2018 Rule 5 draft has come and gone. MLB teams — especially those at the top of the draft — are well into the process of scouring the remaining players for fits with their roster. A long list of players worth a look were exposed this year (my spreadsheet with every player who appears on MLB.com’s top 30 lists was well over 100 columns long). Naturally, a few of these players could do some good on the Detroit Tigers roster in 2019.
How does the Rule 5 draft work?
As we explained last year, the players eligible to be selected are minor leaguers who have been with their organizations for four or five years, but are not on the team’s 40-man roster.