The Rule 5 Draft is set to take place on Wednesday, December 6, during the Winter Meetings in Nashville at 2 p.m. ET on MLB dot com. David Stearns has made it clear in his New York Mets tenure that he’s focused on building significant depth, and the Rule 5 Draft is a place where you can find that with minimal risk.
Let’s begin with a quick summary of the Rule 5 Draft and how it works. The Rule 5 Draft takes place during the Winter Meetings every offseason. It allows players who have accrued five years of service time but have not been added to their organization’s 40-man roster to be selected by other teams.
If a player is selected in the draft, he is immediately added to the selecting team’s 26-man active roster. That player must then spend the entire subsequent season on the major league active roster. If the team wants to remove that player from the active roster, he must be placed on waivers and ultimately offered back to his original team should he clear waivers. If the original team declines the opportunity to re-acquire the player, he remains with his new organization.
Ryan Noda (A’s) and Blake Sabol (Giants) were guys taken in the Rule 5 last year and had productive seasons in the majors with their new teams.
There is also a Triple-A portion of the Rule 5 draft with no roster restrictions. The Mets took infielder Jonathan Araúz in the Triple-A portion last year, and he ended up playing in the big leagues for New York.
The Mets’ current roster is relatively thin regarding pitching, and a few intriguing arms are available in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. The Mets are listed to have the 8th pick, but as of publishing, two teams ahead of them have full 40-man rosters and cannot make a selection. The Mets currently only have 33 players on their 40-man roster and, therefore, have some flexibility with their picks.
Here are the players the Mets could stand to gain (and lose) in this year’s Rule 5 Draft.
A pitcher who appears to be a great fit is Justin Slaten, a right-hander who was a third round pick by the Texas Rangers in 2019. He is 26 years old and has just five career Triple-A appearances, but he has exceptional strikeout numbers (2.87 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 59 2/3 innings in 2023). He is susceptible to the home run ball and has had command issues in the past. However, the current Mets bullpen is far from defined outside of closer Edwin Díaz and Slaten could have a real shot at carving out a role should he be selected.
Another player to keep an eye on is CJ Van Eyk, a right-handed pitcher and former second round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2020. Van Eyk struggled in his first season of professional ball in 2021, missed all of the 2022 season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and pitched just 34 1/3 innings in 2023.
Still, he looked solid on the mound across three levels of the minors, and he was even better during the Arizona Fall League, posting a 2.51 ERA across five appearances. The Mets have many question marks both in their rotation and bullpen, and it might make sense to take a flier on a pitcher like Van Eyk, who has showcased elite strikeout stuff in the past.
The player with the Mets recent success that they selected in the Rule 5 Draft was Sean Gilmartin and the 2.67 ERA he posted the following season.
Our own Colby Morris took a deeper look at some of the names available in the draft.
Coleman Crow, Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Regarding players the Mets might lose during the Rule 5 Draft, right-handed pitcher Coleman Crow appears to be attracting a lot of attention. Crow was acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in the Eduardo Escobar deal, but he underwent Tommy John surgery in August and never actually took the mound following the trade. He was sensational in limited action in 2023, his age-22 season (1.88 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 24 innings), and an organization may select him despite the uncertainty around how much he can contribute during the 2024 season.
Jeremiah Jackson is also eligible to be selected, although he is not nearly as likely to be selected as Crow. Jackson was actually Rule 5-eligible last season while in the Angels organization but was not selected, and he went on to have a strong 2023 campaign. His numbers improved across the board after a midseason trade to the Mets in the Dominic Leone deal, posting a .802 OPS with seven homers and six stolen bases in 37 games with Binghamton.
Jackson also offers great positional flexibility, having played all around the diamond throughout his professional career. However, he will be 24 entering the 2024 season and has not played a game above the Double-A level, so it would be a big gamble for any organization to effectively guarantee him a major league roster spot.
We will have you covered with all the Rule 5 news live from the Winter Meetings by our Editor-in-Chief, Michael Mayer. Stay tuned to see if the Mets add and/or lose any players.
