That’s also apparent in who was selected. With so many fewer players entering the minors in 2020, the effects were felt downstream in 2023.
This is the first year in which college players as well as 19-year-old high school draftees were eligible for Rule 5 selection. This was viewed as a less talented Rule 5 class than normal, in large part because the 2020 draft was cut from 40 rounds to five because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Guardians have lost the second most at 26. Since 2000, the Yankees have had 32 players selected in the MLB Rule 5 draft, a full 8.9% of all 357 players selected over that span.
Three different Yankees righthanders were selected, including the top two picks: Mitch Spence and Matt Sauer. Only 10 players were taken, which marked the second-smallest draft class of the 21st century, trailing only the nine players taken in the 2013 MLB Rule 5 draft.īut that didn’t keep the Yankees from being raided. As expected, the 2023 MLB Rule 5 draft was one of the shortest in recent memory.
