Confused over Rule 5

alphington · 09-18-2022, 06:02 AM

I thought a player had to have at least 3 years professional time to be eligible for Rule 5 draft but I have an 18 year old with only 27 days prof time on a minor league contract who is apparently eligible (see screenshot).

I freely admit to being easily confused so would welcome some clarification here

Brad K · 09-19-2022, 01:33 AM

The game randomizes service time for players created at the time the game is created. Sometimes that creates unreasonable situations like this.

alphington · 09-19-2022, 04:40 AM

Thanks Brad, if it's an in-game issue then that's good to know. It seems I can't use the editor/commish mode to solve it so I will probably try and trade him before he is taken in Rule 5 (my scout rates him as 80/80 potential).

Matt Arnold · 09-19-2022, 05:26 AM

This is actually more likely a different case. In real life, if a minor league player is released and signs with another team, they are immediately rule 5 eligible. We handle it slightly differently - it's more generic if a player is signed as a minor leaguer in some cases, so there are some cases where players are marked eligible in-game where they wouldn't be in real life. But given the transaction history item and service shown, I would think he would fall in that case.

alphington · 09-19-2022, 05:42 AM

Thanks Matt, I don't have a BB background so there's a bunch of stuff not in my knowledge base and I'm learning all the time! Anyway, this is a great game thanks and who knows, maybe I'll end up with a good incoming trade for Mr Aldeano

MathBandit · 09-19-2022, 10:25 AM

If your scout thinks he's *that* good, why not just put him on the 40-man? Especially if he's anywhere near good enough to pitch in the Majors for a team next year.

Brad K · 09-19-2022, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathBandit

If your scout thinks he's *that* good, why not just put him on the 40-man? Especially if he's anywhere near good enough to pitch in the Majors for a team next year.

Good idea.

alphington · 09-19-2022, 12:32 PM

Guys now you mention it this seems to make sense so I will try it! Thanks for the advice.

billyray1984 · 09-19-2022, 03:30 PM

Minor leaguers released and signed by another org and purchased players from indy leagues are usually automatically elligible to rule 5 in game.

If he is major league ready or almost major league ready, protect him by adding him to the 40 man roster. If he is still far away, the AI is usually not agressive in the rule 5 draft and high end prospects are usually not drafted by the AI unless they can actually play in the majors, which explains why it usually drafts for bench guys or established vets on minor league deals.

alphington · 09-19-2022, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billyray1984

Minor leaguers released and signed by another org and purchased players from indy leagues are usually automatically elligible to rule 5 in game.

If he is major league ready or almost major league ready, protect him by adding him to the 40 man roster. If he is still far away, the AI is usually not agressive in the rule 5 draft and high end prospects are usually not drafted by the AI unless they can actually play in the majors, which explains why it usually drafts for bench guys or established vets on minor league deals.

thanks all good info to know...

Brad K · 09-20-2022, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alphington

Guys now you mention it this seems to make sense so I will try it! Thanks for the advice.

I hope you haven't filled your 40 man roster. There's no reason to put players on the 40 man just to fill it. The need is like this situation, to make a player ineligible for Rule 5, or if you trade for a player with a major league contract who you want to assign to the minors.

dannibalcorpse · 09-22-2022, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MathBandit

If your scout thinks he's *that* good, why not just put him on the 40-man? Especially if he's anywhere near good enough to pitch in the Majors for a team next year.

Without seeing his current ratings, there's a couple reasons why I think this would be a bad idea. First, that's 80 -potential- right now, not 80 overall. You only have to play a couple seasons of OOTP (or go over a BP Top 100 Prospects list from 6-7 years ago) to know that not all 80 potential guys live up to that hype. I wouldn't want to basically run a 39-man roster for a couple years while figuring out if this guy is actually going to turn into something worthwhile.

The other issue is that, without seeing his current ratings, I'd have to assume he's at least a couple years away from being MLB-ready. If he's on the 40 man roster, you're probably going to burn through all 3 of his minor league options before he throws a single pitch in the majors.

As said elsewhere in the thread, the AI teams aren't usually super aggressive in the Rule 5 draft - usually only a handful of picks get made, and most often it's either former MLB guys on minor league deals, or 40-50 OVR/POT players who are close to MLB ready. Remember, if they picked your guy, they have to keep him on the MLB roster the whole year, or give him back to you. While Elvis Lucianos happen sometimes, it's very rare for a team to basically carry a guy like that for the whole year.

MathBandit · 09-22-2022, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannibalcorpse

Without seeing his current ratings, there's a couple reasons why I think this would be a bad idea. First, that's 80 -potential- right now, not 80 overall. You only have to play a couple seasons of OOTP (or go over a BP Top 100 Prospects list from 6-7 years ago) to know that not all 80 potential guys live up to that hype. I wouldn't want to basically run a 39-man roster for a couple years while figuring out if this guy is actually going to turn into something worthwhile.

The other issue is that, without seeing his current ratings, I'd have to assume he's at least a couple years away from being MLB-ready. If he's on the 40 man roster, you're probably going to burn through all 3 of his minor league options before he throws a single pitch in the majors.

As said elsewhere in the thread, the AI teams aren't usually super aggressive in the Rule 5 draft - usually only a handful of picks get made, and most often it's either former MLB guys on minor league deals, or 40-50 OVR/POT players who are close to MLB ready. Remember, if they picked your guy, they have to keep him on the MLB roster the whole year, or give him back to you. While Elvis Lucianos happen sometimes, it's very rare for a team to basically carry a guy like that for the whole year.

Right. Which is why I said *if he's close to being MLB-ready next year*.

If my options are to put a guy whose probably a bit below MLB average now but my scout thinks is the next Mariano Rivera on my 40-man a year or so too early, or risk losing him to any other team in the league for free, it's not a particularly difficult choice. Especially since the shelf life on a reliever is probably only 4ish years anyways, so it doesn't really matter to me if I get him from 20-23 or 24-27.

09-18-2022, 06:02 AM	#1
alphington Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 71	Confused over Rule 5 I thought a player had to have at least 3 years professional time to be eligible for Rule 5 draft but I have an 18 year old with only 27 days prof time on a minor league contract who is apparently eligible (see screenshot). I freely admit to being easily confused so would welcome some clarification here Attached Images

09-19-2022, 04:40 AM	#3
alphington Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 71	Thanks Brad, if it's an in-game issue then that's good to know. It seems I can't use the editor/commish mode to solve it so I will probably try and trade him before he is taken in Rule 5 (my scout rates him as 80/80 potential). Last edited by alphington; 09-19-2022 at 04:43 AM.

09-19-2022, 01:33 AM	#2
Brad K Banned Join Date: May 2016 Location: St Petersburg Florida USA Posts: 6,693 Infractions: 0/2 (4)	The game randomizes service time for players created at the time the game is created. Sometimes that creates unreasonable situations like this.

09-19-2022, 05:26 AM	#4
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 16,254	This is actually more likely a different case. In real life, if a minor league player is released and signs with another team, they are immediately rule 5 eligible. We handle it slightly differently - it's more generic if a player is signed as a minor leaguer in some cases, so there are some cases where players are marked eligible in-game where they wouldn't be in real life. But given the transaction history item and service shown, I would think he would fall in that case.

09-19-2022, 05:42 AM	#5
alphington Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 71	Thanks Matt, I don't have a BB background so there's a bunch of stuff not in my knowledge base and I'm learning all the time! Anyway, this is a great game thanks and who knows, maybe I'll end up with a good incoming trade for Mr Aldeano

09-19-2022, 10:25 AM	#6
MathBandit All Star Starter Join Date: Feb 2021 Posts: 1,448	If your scout thinks he's that good, why not just put him on the 40-man? Especially if he's anywhere near good enough to pitch in the Majors for a team next year.

09-19-2022, 12:32 PM	#8
alphington Minors (Single A) Join Date: Jul 2013 Posts: 71	Guys now you mention it this seems to make sense so I will try it! Thanks for the advice.

09-19-2022, 03:30 PM	#9
billyray1984 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2021 Posts: 218	Minor leaguers released and signed by another org and purchased players from indy leagues are usually automatically elligible to rule 5 in game. If he is major league ready or almost major league ready, protect him by adding him to the 40 man roster. If he is still far away, the AI is usually not agressive in the rule 5 draft and high end prospects are usually not drafted by the AI unless they can actually play in the majors, which explains why it usually drafts for bench guys or established vets on minor league deals.