Rays Your Voice: Should we care about the Rule 5 draft? Guest Darby Robinson

Nov 17, 2022 - 12:17 PM

Darby Robinson is back on the show this week to discuss how the Rays managed to make room for five additions to the 40-man roster, including losing long-tenured players Kevin Kiermaier, Ji-Man Choi, and Ryan Yarbrough. While all three of those players have played key roles in turning the Rays into perennial contenders, it was clear to most that 2022 would probably be their last season in St. Petersburg, for multiple reasons.

The deadline to add Rule 5 eligible prospects to the roster was this past Tuesday, and the Rays selected the contracts of Taj Bradley, Curtis Mead, Osleivis Basabe, Greg Jones, and Colby White. Xavier Edwards, another Rule 5 eligible prospect, was packaged in a trade with reliever JT Chargois to the Miami Marlins for two younger prospects. Miles Mastrobuoni, an infielder who got his first cup of coffee in the big leagues this year with the Rays, was traded to the Cubs to open up another spot.

The past week of baseball news has been dominated by how teams would make room on their rosters to avoid being plundered by the other 29 clubs in December’s Rule 5 draft, which will be the first since 2020.

Darby ‘Rayses’ his voice about the draft and why as fans we shouldn’t worry as much about it as we do. The best prospects that have a chance to make an immediate impact at the big league level will almost always be added, and the guys that are left unprotected are most likely not Major League players. Everything else works itself out.