Rule 5 draft and unaffiliated minor league teams

[OmahaReynolds]

The game currently doesn't put players who meet the criteria for the Rule 5 draft AND are on the roster of an unafilliated minor league team into the Rule 5 draft pool. However, when you look at said minor league team's transaction page you see the "#" symbol alleging that they are eligible for the Rule 5 draft.

If this could be fixed (or added) it would allow major league teams to have a sort of minor league draft like they did when all minor league teams were unaffiliated.

[blasek0]

Excellent catch, thanks for posting it.

[mgom27]

Real Rule 5 Draft Rules would be neat.

[blasek0]

The post previously occupying this space has been rendered irrelevant by the facts posted below. See the facts in following post.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by blasek0

The Rule V eligibility stipulates that players must be under contract with a major league team, but not on the 40-man roster, with the right number of years to be eligible. So, it could be that the reason this isn't happening is OOTP is actually just enforcing the eligibility rules properly, without marking the players up properly elsewhere.

That's not correct. Players on independent clubs in an affiliated league are subject to the Rule 5 draft. Here is what is says in the 2008 edition of the Major League Rules (emphasis added):

Originally Posted by Major League Rule 5

(c) PLAYERS SUBJECT TO SELECTION.

All players on the Minor League Reserve Lists of Major League and Minor League Clubs, except players on the Voluntarily Retired, Disqualified or Ineligible Lists, shall be subject to selection by other Major League Clubs at the Rule 5 Selection Meeting in accordance with the following:

(1) A player without previous Major or Minor League service who signs with a Major League or independent Minor League Club shall be subject to selection based on the following:

(A) if 18 years of age or under on the June 5 immediately preceding the player's signing, the player shall be subject to selection at the fifth Rule 5 Selection Meeting that follows the signing date of the player's first Major or Minor League contract, unless Rule 5(c)(1)(C) applies;

(B) if 19 years of age or over on the June 5 immediately preceding the player's signing, the player shall be subject to selection at the fourth Selection Meeting that follows the signing date of the player's first Major or Minor League contract, unless Rule 5(c)(1)(C) applies;

(C) if the signing date of a player’s first Major or Minor League contract is between

(i) the conclusion of the championship season for the Major or Minor League Club to which the player is assigned on such contract and
(ii) the next Rule 5 Selection Meeting,

then the player shall be deemed to have signed after the next Rule 5 Selection Meeting, for purposes of this Rule 5(c)(1).

Any player on an independent minor league club in an affiliated league is subject to selection. Only those players on minor league clubs outside the National Association (i.e. the independent leagues) are not subject to the Rule 5 draft.

[blasek0]

Thanks for looking that up. I wasn't sure if they were eligible or not, since it's been a while since we've had truly unaffiliated minor league teams.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by blasek0

Thanks for looking that up. I wasn't sure if they were eligible or not, since it's been a while since we've had truly unaffiliated minor league teams.

True enough. The current PBA mandates the majors support 160 minor league clubs (not counting the AZL and GCL, since the majors directly own and operate the clubs in those leagues).

In any case, visit BizofBaseball.com and head to its Documents section. There you will find a PDF of the 2008 Major League Rules freely available for download. That's where I got my copy.

(That site also has a number of other interesting files. A recommended stop on the internet for those interested in the business aspects of the sport, especially since it's possible the site may not be around much longer.)