A's Lose Prospects to Phillies, Tigers and Nationals in Rule 5 Draft
After selecting Mitch Spence with the first pick in the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft, the Oakland A's were done making picks, which is a little bit surprising. The team finished at 50-112, looked at their 26th ranked farm system, and said "we're good."
The Detroit Tigers pounced on right-handed pitcher Calvin Coker in the second round of the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. Coker, 27, was originally selected by the A's in the 15th round of the 2018 Draft out of Auburn. He appeared in 46 games in Double-A in 2023, amassing 74 1/3 innings with a 3.15 ERA, a 1.345 WHIP, and six saves. His walks per nine sat at 2.9, but his strikeout rate was also fairly low at 5.9 per nine. Now he'll join the Tigers' organization for the 2024 season.
The Washington Nationals voted to bring in outfielder Moises Gallardo with their fourth-round pick. Gallardo is a 20-year-old prospect that spent two seasons in the Dominican Summer League before joining the Arizona Complex League this past season. He hit .280 with a .376 OBP, but also struck out 32% of the time. The Nats are playing the long game with Gallardo.
The Philadelphia Phillies rang the bell and selected catcher Will Simoneit in the first round of the minor-league phase. Simoneit is 27 and hit .237 with a .326 OBP in 72 games with Double-A in 2023.
While the big-league portion Rule 5 Draft means that a player must stay on the 26-man roster over the course of the entire season (barring injury), the minor league selections don't have any such rules. Those three players are now part of their new organizations.
It's just odd that the A's didn't take a single player in the minor league portion themselves. The second player taken was Brendan Hardy, a right-handed pitcher that finished the season with 13.9 strikeouts per nine and just 3.3 walks per nine while holding a 1.80 ERA in 35 innings. Granted, a lot of those stats were in the lower minors, but he doesn't have to be in the big leagues immediately. The A's could have selected him, but instead he'll be in the Colorado Rockies' farm system.
This was certainly a choice given the status of the franchise right now. The A's have always been seen as a team where players can get a chance, a la Brent Rooker in 2023. Yet this time around they decided to literally pass their picks to the next team in line.