Ah, the Rule 5 Draft. What was formerly a weird little quirk designed to make sure teams couldn’t hoard prospects in the minors forever has evolved, in the era of tanking, into a way savvy teams can acquire talent on the cheap. Unsurprisingly, the Mariners have been active in the Rule 5 Draft over the past few years under Jerry Dipoto: for the 2021 season they selected RHP Will Vest, who was later returned to Detroit; for 2020 they took RHP Yohan Ramírez, who had no problem sticking with the team in the pandemic-shortened season; in 2019 it was RHP Brandon Brennan, who stuck with the team for 2020 but struggled with injury and was DFA’d at the end of April in 2021; and in 2018 the Mariners made their lone position-player selection under Dipoto, taking 1B Mike Ford from the Yankees system, who was later returned to New York.
Prospects the Mariners might consider protecting from the Rule 5 Draft
