Examining The Impact Of The Rule 5 Draft On The Indians

It’s become an annual tradition much like black-Friday shopping the day after Thanksgiving. It may be called the “hot-stove within the hot-stove” and it occurs every off-season. Every team must add a select number of minor-league players to its 40-man roster or be subject to losing them to another organization.

Here is the rule: Any player signed at 18 years old must be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons. Those signed at 19 must be added within four seasons. Those non-rostered players left off the 40-man roster are eligible to be drafted by other clubs on the final day of next month’s winter meetings in Orlando, Florida. Once selected, those players must remain on the major-league roster or be offered back to the original organization. If a team wishes to participate in the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 14, they must possess an open 40-man slot.

Last year, the Indians used the process to select lefty Hoby Milner. After failing to earn a spot in the bullpen during spring training, he was sent back to the Phillies prior to the season. The Tribe also lost outfielder Anthony Santander to the Orioles in the second round of the MLB Rule 5 Draft phase.

Last week, the Indians made a flurry of moves before Monday’s 8 p.m. deadline to set their 40-man roster for the draft. They added infielders Willi Castro, Eric Stamets and Yu-Cheng Chang and right-hander Julian Merryweather to the 40-man roster. They have also claimed utility man Rob Refsnyder off waivers from Toronto. To clear space on the 40-man roster, left-hander Kyle Crocket and right-hander Dylan Baker were designated for assignment, amid some outcry from the Twitter-folk.

Here are the minor leaguers that the Indians added to the 40-man roster for the first time.

Yu-Cheng Chang

The 22-year-old right-handed hitting shortstop spent the entire season at Double-A Akron in 2017, slugging 24 homers and overcoming a .220 average and .312 on-base percentage by posting a 110 wRC+. The strikeout rate isn’t great (26.4 percent) but his willingness to create slugging by hitting more fly balls (44 percent) than grounders certainly fits with baseball’s changing environment. Chang was part of the vetoed Jonathan Lucroy deal, so there’s obvious interest outside the organization in the young middle-infielder. He was ranked as the club’s ninth-best prospect by Baseball Prospectus and sixth-best by Baseball America this year.

Willi Castro

It would be somewhat difficult for any opposing team to roster the 20-year-old shortstop for an entire major-league season — he topped out at High-A Lynchburg this year — but if any club liked his ability enough, you really can’t rule anything out. Castro currently ranks ninth on MLB.com‘s top-30 Indians prospects list. The switch-hitter ranked 15 percent above the league average in run-creation, slashing .290/.337/.424 in 123 games this year. Castro’s age and level may make it easier to gamble on leaving him unprotected, but his upside might be enough to warrant playing it safe.

Eric Stamets

Acquired from the Angels for David Murphy in 2015, Stamets, 26, increased his fly-ball rate to nearly 55 percent in 101 games at Triple-A, and his power followed. He slugged 16 homers this past year after never hitting more than seven in any one minor-league season. But with so much middle-infield depth in the system, it’s tough to see Stamets ever getting a shot with the Indians. A different club might find his glove and increased pop useful.

Julian Merryweather

Merryweather made nine starts and posted a 3.38 ERA at Double-A Akron before his promotion to Triple-A Columbus this year, but his first 16 outings with the Clippers led to an alarming 6.58 ERA. He did suffer from some bad luck (.388 BABIP) and struck out over 21 percent of the hitters he faced following his advancement, so there’s still reason to believe the hard-throwing 26-year-old righty could develop into a major-league contributor. Merryweather ranks 12th on the Tribe’s top-30 prospect list, according to MLB.com. The odds are pretty good that if left unprotected, someone would take a chance on his ability.