UPDATE: Mets 2023 Eligible Rule 5 Draft Players for Today's Rule 5 Draft

 

The Major League Baseball Rule 5 Draft is scheduled this year for today, Wednesday, December 6^th at 2 PM.

In addition, players not added to the 38-Man AAA Roster will be eligible for the minor league portion of the draft.  

MLB.com recently listed the 5 Mets players on their Top 30 Prospect list who will be Rule 5 eligible this year: 

• Alex Ramírez, OF (No. 11) - added to Mets 40 Man Roster
• Justin Jarvis, RHP (No. 15)
• Luis R. Rodriguez, LHP (No. 21)
• Jeremiah Jackson, INF/OF (No. 22)
• Coleman Crow, RHP (No. 29)

First these 5:

Jeremiah Jackson was obtained from the Angels for Dominic Leone. At the time of the trade Baseball America stated: "A second-round pick in 2018, Jackson is a good athlete with huge power but struggles badly to make contact...Jackson is an above-average runner with above-average arm strength who can adequately play center field, shortstop and third base."  

Last year, between the Angels AA team and the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, Jeremiah K'd 144 times in 500 Plate Appearances/440 At-Bats. However, he did manage to hit 22 homers, with 80 RBIs and 27 stolen bases in 119 games.  With Binghamton, he slashed .264/.344/.457 - .802 OPS.  He looked good in all the games I saw him play in person as he showed the ability to put the ball in play with men on base to drive in runs, steal a base and play good defense at 2B, SS, 3B, LF and RF.

Alex Ramirez:

After slashing .278/.329/.427 in 54 games with Brooklyn as a 19 year old in 2022, Alex started 2023 in Brooklyn but everyone thought it would be a short stay.  However, after the Mets wanted him to turn his 30 doubles in 2022 to Home Runs (According to Baseball America - just 4 teenagers had doubles more in 2022). The problem is  Brooklyn is one of the toughest places to hit HRs - he dropped to 21 doubles in 2023 with 7 HRS, 53 RBIs while slashing .221/.310/317 - .627 OPS.

Mets added him to the 40-Man Roster on November 14th.  

Coleman Crow:

Coleman was obtained from the Angels as part of the Eduardo Escobar trade.  While he looked like a very good pitching prospect going 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA with 31 Ks in 24 innings in AA, he was on the IL at the time of trade with elbow soreness.  Sure enough, he later required Tommy John Surgery and will likely miss most if not all of 2024.  Some team may decide to grab him and put him on the IL for 2024 with the hope of a full recovery in 2025.  Bothe Baseball America and MLB.com think that Coleman could be someone who will be drafted.

Justin Jarvis:

The Mets landed Justin Jarvis from the Brewers for Mark Canha.  At the time of the trade Baseball America stated: "He pitched effectively in his first extended run at Double-A, recording a 3.33 ERA in 14 starts for Biloxi with 91 strikeouts and 26 walks in 75.2 innings. The caveat to Jarvis’ Double-A performance is the pre-tacked baseball the Southern League experimented with in the first half. The ball enabled pitchers to generate more spin and enhanced command." 

After the trade with Syracuse, Justin struggled.  He went 0-5 with a 9.48 ERA in 9 starts allowing 43 hits in 31.1 innings only going more than 4 innings twice. I saw him pitch in person on two different occasions where he went 3 innings in one start and 3.1 innings in the other - both times with high pitch counts. The Syracuse manager told me that he has good stuff, he just had to make better pitches. 

Luis R. Rodriguez: 

Luis is a lefty that threw as hard as 97 MPH.  Then in March 2022, he had Tommy John Surgery missing all of 2022.  He came back to pitch 2 games for St. Lucie and 4 games for the FCL Mets. Lefties who throw hard are valuable but I am not sure home many can make the jump to the MLB roster.

Other Interesting Names:

Matt Allan:

The top ranked high school righthander in 2019, Matt Allan was signed by the Mets as a 3rd Round Draft pick for $2.5M.  Matt pitched 10 innings during the regular season for the Gulf Coast Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones and 5 more in the playoffs for Brooklyn, The pandemic cancelled his 2020 season, In May 2021, the surgeries started.  Tommy John surgery in May '21, ulnar transition survey in January '22 and UCL revision surgery in January '23.  

MLB.com: "It typically requires a 12- to 18-month recovery."

Matt already missed all of 2023 and could miss a big chunk of 2024. As Baseball America noted: "Allan flashed top-shelf stuff when healthy. The Mets are hopeful he can recover his mid-90s fastball with vertical life and his high-70s curveball with tight spin and plus potential." Therefore I think the Mets add him to the 40-Man Roster.

Joander Suarez:

He may not be on anyone's Top-30 Prospect list but he sure pitched like a top prospect in 2023 for Binghamton.  He three starts he did not allow a run, 3 hits total including a No-Hitter on September 7th.  He was later named Pitcher Of the Week for the Eastern League, for the second week in a row.  Pitching is a primary Mets need.  Therefore I think he will be added to the 40-Man Roster.

Wilkin Ramos: 

The Mets drafted Wilkin in last year's Minor L:eague portion of the Rule 5 draft which makes him eligible again this year.  After going 3 and 2 with a 2.97 ERA for Brooklyn, Wilkin shined in AA 2 and 0 with a 1.47 ERA - 24 Ks in 18.1 innings.  I think he has an outside chance to get added to the 40-Man Roster and at the very least, the AAA roster.

Vincent Perozo:

Vincent is a Lefty Power Hitting Catcher.  He hit 8 HRs in 88 games last year for St. Lucie while slashing .226/.322/.381 - .702 OPS.  He is someone that could get picked up in the Minor League portion of the Draft.

Luis Moreno:

Luis had a really good year in 2023 for Binghamton.  He was named Pitcher of the Week in June. From the Binghamton Rubple Ponies Press release: "On Tuesday night on the road against Akron, Moreno threw five no-hit frames allowing just one walk and nine strikeouts. On Sunday against the RubberDucks, Moreno pitched four innings of scoreless relief allowing just two hits, one walk, and striking out two. Over his last four outings, Moreno has allowed just three runs over 22 innings (1.23 ERA), with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 28-to-6."

Here is the full list of eligible Rule 5 players:

Pitchers: Angel Alfonseca;  Bailey Reid;  Benito Garcia;  Brendan Hardy;  Brian Metoyer;  Coleman Crow;  Daniel Juarez;  Eric Orze;  William Woods;  Hunter Parsons;  Jace Beck;  Javier Atencio;  Jawilme Ramirez;  Jeffrey Colon;  Jeremy Peguero;  Joander Suarez;  Jordany Ventura;  Jorge Rodriguez;  Josh Hejka;  Joshua Cornielly;  Junior Santos;  Justin Jarvis;  Layonel Ovalles;  Luis Moreno;  Luis R. Rodriguez;  Matt Allan;  Miguel Alfonseca;   Robert Colina;  Robert Dominguez;  Troy Miller; Wilkin Ramos;

 

Catchers: Hayden Senger; Jose Hernandez; Matt O'Neill; Vincent Perozo;

 

Infielders: Jefrey De Los Santos; Jeremiah Jackson; Junior Tilien; William Lugo; Luke Ritter; Mateo Gil;

 

Outfielders: Jaylen Palmer; Joe Suozzi; Brandon McIlwain; Carlos Cortes; Stanley Consuegra; Yeral Martinez; Adrian Hernandez; Fabian Machado; Omar De Los Santos; 

In addition, these 7 year minor league free agents that have not declared free agency are also eligible for the draft: P Daison Acosta; P Dedniel Núñez; P TylerJay; P Tyler Thomas; INF Jose Peroza (reported re-signed on X/Twitter by Michael Mayer); C Tomás Nido (signed a 2 year contract last January);

Plus, two players placed on Waivers and assigned to Syracuse: Bryce Montes de Oca and Peyton Battenfield.

Recent Minor League Free Agents: Cole Sulser, Jose Yabbour, Jose Iglesias, Andre Scrubb and Carlos Guzman.

Rule 5 Draft details:

Per MLB.com: "Players first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other organizations through the Rule 5 process. Players signed at 19 years or older have to be protected within four seasons. Clubs pay $100,000 to select a player in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft. If that player doesn't stay on the 25-man roster for the full season, he must be offered back to his former team for $50,000."

There are two portions, the Major League portion and the Minor League portion.  In the Major League portion, each Major League team gets one pick from the pool of unprotected players.  Teams can place players on their AAA Roster to exempt them from the Minor League portion.  Once selected, those players do not need to be retained on a team's MLB roster. 

Dodger Blue: "Teams with a full 38-man Triple-A roster are not permitted to make any picks. Each player taken in the Minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft requires a $24,500 payment to be made to the original team."