Thursday, March 29, 2012

Rule V Update

Every year at the Winter Meetings there is a second draft among baseball's 30 ball-clubs, and, as opposed to the Rule IV Draft that takes place every June, this draft deals specifically with players who already have a parent organization, not amateurs. Usually, the Nats have been more than willing to take a chance on players, despite the caveat that you must keep the player on the Major League roster all season long or you have to offer the player back to his original team. Sometimes this works out pretty well and you are able to find a diamond in the rough (Jesus Flores) and sometimes you get a dud (Brian Broderick, Elvin Ramirez, Jamie Hoffmann, Terrell Young, Matthew Whitney, Levale Speigner, and Garrett Guzman).

This year, as a sign of huge growth for the Franchise, Rizzo and Co. decided not to take anyone in the Rule V (pronounced five, not "V") for the first time since 2005. However, the organization lost two players to other clubs; Erik Komatsu to the Cardinals and Brad Meyers to the Yankees. Let's take a look at their chances to make their respective clubs.

Erik Komatsu - 24 Years-old - Outfielder - Cardinals
- Came over from the Brewers in the Jerry Hairston trade last year.
- 2012 Spring Stats: .289/.340/.422. 2 2B. 2 3B. 8 RBI. 4 BB. 5 K. 5 SB.
- Chances of making the club? Strong. He is going against Shane Robinson, a 27 year-old outfielder, and Komatsu has the upper hand due to the money investment (50k) made by the ballclub. It looks like he will break camp as the Cardinals 5th Outfielder; behind Matt Holiday, John Jay, Carlos Beltran, and Playoff Hero Allen Craig.

Brad Meyers - 26 Years-old - RHP - Yankees
- Drafted by the Nationals in the 5th round of the 2007 MLB First Year Player Draft.
- 2012 Spring Stats: N/A.
- Brad Meyers hasn't appeared in any games this spring due to a Shoulder injury suffered while lifting weights this offseason.
- Expect Brad Meyers to start the season on the DL. The Yankees would be allowed to keep him on the DL for the time being.

I think both of these players have a chance to stick with their big clubs for an extended period of time, health depending. What do you think??
Posted by Mac at 9:30 AM
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2 comments:

  1. John C.March 29, 2012 at 10:27 AM

    Komatsu has a chance to stick with the Cardinals, yes. Meyers will stick with the Yankees ... as long as they can keep him on the DL. Remember Elvin Ramirez? You can't hide a Rule 5 guy on the DL and solve the Rule 5 problem.

    And the problem for Meyers in the Bronx is that there is just no place to put him, even if you assume that Joba Chamberlain isn't coming back this year. Could Meyers stick in NY? Sure - the Yankee bullpen could be decimated by prolonged injuries that enable them to always keep a slot open for him.

    But that's not terribly likely. The Yankees are in it to win it; they don't develop their own minor league pitchers enough, they're not going to get sentimental or inconvenience themselves over Meyers and $25,000. They picked Meyers up as depth before they picked up Pineda and Kuroda. Once they signed those two, the writing was on the wall for Meyers.

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  2. bdrubeMarch 29, 2012 at 10:35 AM

    Komatsu has a LONG way to go to stay on the Cards bench all season. He has to produce, even as a reserve. We'll see if he does.

    As for Meyers, given how serious shoulder injuries can be, he may not pitch at all this year. If that happens, we'll get him back and then he'll be a 27-year-old still looking to make his MLB debut...in other words not a terribly valuable commodity.

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