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Warming Up For The 2010 Rule 5 Draft

Next week, top level executives from every Major League organization will congregate in Orlando, Florida for the Rule 5 Draft, which traditionally occurs at the end of the Baseball Winter Meetings.  This year’s Rule 5 Draft will go down on December 9.  As a quick refresher, here are the basics of the Rule 5 Draft:

  • It is not the Amateur Draft, also known as the Rule 4 Draft, where high school, junior college, and juniors/seniors in 4-year universities are selected in the 50 round draft.
  • To be eligible to be drafted, a player must not be on the 40-man roster and must have been in the organization for 4 years if signed at 19-years-old or older, or 5 years if signed at 18-years-old or younger.
  • Triple-A players selected must be added to that team’s 40-man roster and kept on that team’s 25-man roster (and active for at least 90 days) for at least one full season.  A team selecting a player must pay $50,000 that player’s former team a fee of $50,000.  This is known as the Major League Phase.
  • That player may be waived by the new team.  If he clears waivers, the team that lost him in the Rule 5 draft has the option to take him back for a price of $25,000.
  • Double-A players (or lower level) may be selected to play on a team’s Triple-A squad and Single-A players (or lower level) may be selected to play on a team’s Double-A squad.

The Rule 5 Draft is historically pitcher-heavy. Last year, 14 of the 17 players selected in the Major League Phase were pitchers; 8 were RHPs and 6 were LHPs.  15 of the 21 players taken in the Triple-A Phase were pitchers; 9 RHPs and 6 LHPs.  All 4 players selected in the Double-A Phase were RHPs.  The New York Mets and the Washington Nationals were very active in last year’s Rule 5 Draft.  The Mets selected 6 and the Nationals selected 4 of the 42 total players taken.

Before you go ahead and discount the value of the Rule 5 Draft, realize the the draft is responsible for formerly changing the teams for the following players: Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla, Joakim Soria, Carlos Monasterios, Darren O’Day, Jose Bautista, and Jay Gibbons.

Here are the players that John Manuel of Baseball America is interested in leading up to this year’s Rule 5 Draft.  And here are some more players to read up on, presented by Bucs Dugout.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.

As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.

Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.

Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.