Red Sox Rule 5 Draft results: Minor leaguers gained and lost

When the major- and minor-league portions of the Rule 5 Drafts took place at 5 PM ET on Wednesday, it was open season on Red Sox prospects.

Since taking over in November 2019, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has worked some magic on the blighted farm system. After ranking last in Baseball America‘s organizational standings in 2019, they’re now considered the 11th-best in the league.

A quick refresher on how this works:

Leading up to the draft, teams that have room on their 40-man roster may add players in order to protect them from being swiped by another club. If a team selects a player, they must pay $100,000 to their former team, and keep said player on the 40-man for the entire following season. If a team removes the player from their roster, they can only do so via outright waivers and must offer the player back to his original club for $50,000.

Here’s how this year’s Rule 5 shook out for the Sox:

Red Sox prospects lost in Rule 5 Draft

• With the first pick in the draft, the Washington Nationals claimed RHP Thad Ward, who was quick to react.

• The Orioles selected RHP Andrew Politi
• The Phillies selected Noah Song

In the minor-league portion of the draft, they lost:

• The Phillies selected 2019 second-round pick Cameron Cannon

Red Sox prospects gained in Rule 5 Draft

The Red Sox had the 14th pick but passed on selecting anyone in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 Draft, presumably because they’re preparing to add Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen to the roster, which currently sits at 39, so they already need to scale back. Hopefully, Xander Bogaerts is soon to follow.

In the minor-league rounds, they selected:

• LHP Joe Jacques from the Pittsburgh Pirates (Round 1)
• Ryan Miller from the New York Yankees (Round 2)

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