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$50,000 gamble on Rule 5 sometimes pays off big
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LAS VEGAS — ESPN won't be there to provide pick-by-pick analysis. Fans in attendance, if any, are more likely to react with a "Who?" than to cheer or boo. The whole event will last less than an hour, with maybe a dozen players chosen.

Baseball's Rule 5 draft, which takes place today at the conclusion of the winter meetings, doesn't stir up much excitement among the media or the masses. For executives with a keen eye for talent, though, it provides a chance to unearth a valuable player at a negligible cost.

The success stories to come out of the Rule 5 draft in recent years — including Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, Kansas City Royals closer Joakim Soria, Florida Marlins second baseman Dan Uggla and Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino— underscore the opportunity to strike gold, long as the odds might be.

"I think every team recognizes any opportunity to acquire talent cost-effectively needs to be exploited to its fullest," Cleveland Indians general manager Mark Shapiro says.

Players taken during the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft, conducted in reverse order of the teams' record that year, may be selected for $50,000. The player must stay on the selecting team's major league roster all of the following season or be offered back to the original club for $25,000.

The Rule 5 draft, so named because of its place in the collective bargaining agreement, also highlights the importance of protecting the right prospects.

Depending on their signing date and age, players must be included in the club's 40-man roster within three or four years of being drafted or signed, or they are exposed in the draft.

The Houston Astros are probably still kicking themselves for failing to add a young left-hander out of Venezuela to their 40-man roster before the 1999 winter meetings. Johan Santana has since won 109 games and two Cy Young Awards.

"Clubs now tend to err on the protective end of the spectrum, as opposed to taking that risk," says Andy MacPhail, the Baltimore Orioles' president of baseball operations. "The last thing you want is to lose a really talented major league player for years to come."

Dick Tidrow, the San Francisco Giants' vice president of player personnel, says scouting of potential Rule 5 players is more refined than in the past.

"Teams are spending more time on professional scouting, because you can find a player that's got a lot of talent hidden in those rows," Tidrow says. "It's really not that costly, so why wouldn't you do the work and see if you can find a diamond in the rough?"

The Marlins discovered Uggla, who has averaged 30 home runs and 90 RBI his first three seasons, languishing in the Arizona Diamondbacks' talent-rich farm system.

The Royals spotted something special in Soria, who had only pitched 17 innings in the USA and none above Class A, when they saw him in the Mexican Pacific League. They snatched him from the San Diego Padres in the 2006 Rule 5 draft and he has saved 59 games since.

Because of the requirement that teams keep drafted players on their roster, struggling clubs are more likely to partake. In addition, only teams that have available space on their 40-man roster are eligible to draft.

That was the case with the Minnesota Twins in 1999, when they were coming off a 63-97 season and arranged a trade with the Florida Marlins, who drafted Santana from the Astros. He posted a 6.49 ERA as a raw 21-year-old but learned about life in the majors and eventually became one of the game's top pitchers with the Twins.

"In the last decade, with the stories of Santana and guys like that, everybody's looking for that," Oakland A's GM Billy Beane says. "But the hit rate isn't particularly great."

For $50,000, it's usually a worthwhile gamble.

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